AuG. 18, 1893.

E N G I N E E R I N G.

195

AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES AT THE The general view of the buildings and grounds is j the year 1865. The first gradu1.te was Olher
very imposing, and the building which attracts Gooding, who in 1858 received the diploma of (ivil
COLUl\IBIAN EXPOSITION.
IV. - THE 1\lcGILL, lVloNTREA.L
I N 1881 the American ~ociety of Civil Engineers
mad~ a departure from Its u sual methods, and in
place of holding its convention in the U nited
States, it was decided to visit Canada , and see what
we could ]earn from our n eighbour3, quite anumber of the prominent Canadian engineers beina
members of the society.
b
We r eceived that hospitable entertainment
always to be found among the Canadians, and
retur~ed h ome not only delighted but very much
surpr1sed at t he energy of our n ef\rest n eiahb our
and only English-speaking province, except our~
selves, on this con t inent.
At that time McGill College was a corn parati vely
sma.ll institution, and the present D ean, to whose
energies much of its success is due, had been there
but a few years, having come from Enaland t o
teach mechanics.
o
Visiting Montreal after a lapse of t welve years,
on the occasion of the meeting of the An 1erican
Institu ~e of ~fin :ng Engineers last winter, and find-

the most attention, not only from its appearance,

but from th e fact that it is the gift of one patriotic
citizen of l\1ontreal, is the l\1cDonald Engineering
Building, shown in Fig. 1. This ie probably the
most complete building of its kind in the world,
and is most thoroughly equipped for the purpose
of engineering instruction. Mr. McDonald became greatly interested in the success of McGill
l.Jniversity, whose needs were most eloquently presented to him by Professor Bovey, and believing he
should show his faith by his works, donated this
building and its equipment at a cost of nearly
1,000,000 dols.
H e stipulated in general that the
building should be carefully built, and the apparatus
put in it should be the best obtainable. In addition
t o the above, this same gentleman has made the
following donations : H e gave one-half the sum
required for the erection and equipment of the
Workman Building; he erected and equipped
the Physics Building ; he endowed the chair
of Electrical Engineering and the chair of Experimental Physics ; he gave a large endowment
to meet the running expenses of the two build-

'

FIG.

1.

THE

M cDoNALD

ENGINEERING B enD ING;

ina
that the small college had d e,eloped into a
0
fio urishing university , with various well-equipped
d eoartments, each h eaded by a competent and
distinguished in~tructor, that the one small building had grown to a number of handsome structures and the st u 1ents in attendance had increased
to o~er 1100, we felt sure that all English-speaking people must take a pride in knowin~ about
this institution, w hi eh seems to be destmed t o
a chieve greater successes in future. England 1nay
well be proud of such a u.nive~.sity .in one o.f h er
provinces Cambridge U niversity In particular
should b; equally proud of the wo~k of her d~s
tinguish ed g raduate al~eady men~wne~, wh11,e
Americans are n ot envwus of their n eighbours
prosperity, but 'vish her God speed, an~ t rust that
McGill University may hold her phce In the forem ost ranks of American institut ions of learnin~.
The various buildings are located in a most beautiful park on the side of M ount Royal, just ~ar
enough removed from .the city to be aw~y from Its
noise and yet convenient to all the bustness parts.
Th ~re are five b 1ildings connected with the
University:
1. Main Building, occupied by the Arts Fa~ulty.
2. ~Iedical Building.
3. McDonald Engineering Building.
4. McDonald Physics Building.
5. Redpath Museum.
6. Redpath Library.
In addition to the above, there are also several
other buildings for the various theological denominations, &c.

1\'IcGrLL

UN I VERSITY,

MoNTREAL.

ings ; he endowed the faculty of Law with

150,000 dols.
In addition to all the above, h e has at sundry
times and in divers manners given large sums to
specific objects in the university. The other most
notable recent bequests are : 100,000 dols from Sir
Donald Smith t o found two chairs in the Medical
faculty ; GO,OOO dols from Mr. J. H . R. Molson to
he used for building purposes.
Mr. Peter Redpath's special donations are as
follows : He erected and furnished the Redpath
Museum of Natural History ; he is now erecting, and
also proposes to endow with a large sum of money,
a university library ; he founded the original chair
of Natural Philosophy, a.nd has given other large
sums to the university.
Having thus described the exterior of these fine
buildings and their surroundings, the reader is
invited to step in and examine the interiors, but
perhaps a brief sketch of the history of the faculty
of Applied Science might not be inappropriate at
this point.
In an inaugural address delivered iu 1885, Sir
William Da.wson pointed out the importance to the
university of a department of Practical Science.
In the following y ear 11 C. Keefer, C.E., was
appointed Professor of Hydraulic Engineering, but
was called away from Montreal without having
entered upon the duties of his office. At the same
time, Robert Crawford, B.A., was made Professor
of Road and Rail way Engineering, which position he
held until the year 1857, when he was succeeded by
Mark J. Hamilton, C. E ., who held the post until

engineer, and the total number of graduates up to

1865, when the department lapsed, was fifteen.
In 1871, the department was re-established in
connection with the faculty of Arts, the special
course of study required extending over three years,
and leading to the degree of Bachelor of A pplid
Science.
The professors and le0turers appointed were
G. F. Armstrong, C.E., now Professor of Engineering in the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Harrington,
Dr. Girdwood, and the late Dr. T. Sterry Hunt.
Two y ears later, in 1873, C. H . McLeod, :B.A. Se.,
was added to the staff. In 1876 Professur Armstrong resigned, and was succeeded temp01ariJy by
C. A. H~rris. In the December of the same year,
H enry T. Bovey, ~J.A., Fellow Queen's College,
Cambridge, was elected t o fill the chair of Civil
Engineering and Applied Mechanics, and assum ed
the duties of his ofrice in September, 1877.
In 1878 the departm ent was separated from the
faculty of Arts, and was constituted a faculty of
Appl ied ~cience, with Professor Bovey as Dean.
1'he teaching staff, consisting of Professor Bovey,
Dr. H arrington, Dr. Girdwood, and Professor
McLeod, was now further strengthened by the addition of G. H. Chandler, l\1.A., as Lecturer (now
Professor) in Mathematics. The course was also
lengthened by adding to it a preliminary optional
year, the complete course thud extending over four
years, and leading first to the d egree of Bachelor of
Applied Science, and subsequently to the degree
of Master of Engineering, or Master of Applied
Science. At this time twenty-eight students were
attending the various courses, and the number
steadily increased to seventy-five in 1890. In that
year a new career was opened up for the faculty by
the series of munificent endowments of W. C.
McDonald and the late 'fhomas Workman, eupplemented by the liberal gifts of other citizens, and
the number of students suddenly rose to 125 in
1891, and to 175 in 1892.
Meanwhile, the efficiency of the university
teaching staff was considerably increased by the
appointment of J. Cox, M . A. (McDonald Professor
of Experimental Physics) ; C. A. Carus-Wilson,
M .A. (McDonald Profess0r of Electrical Engineering) ; J. T. Nicolson, B. Se. (Workman Professor of
Mechanical Engineering); vV. A. Carlyle, Ma. E.
(Lecturer in Mining and Metallurgy) ; R. S . Lea,
Ma. E. (Lecturer in Mathematics and Drawing) ;
and N. N. Evans, l\1.A. Se. (Lecturer in Chemistry).
The work of the faculty was thus p1aced on a
much broader basis. \Vith well-furnished workshops and laboratories, equipped with the best and
most modern apparatus for ~cientific investigations
in all kinds of engineering, as projected, it was felt
that it would be possible to train men who should
acquire, by the carrying out of careful experiments,
that confidence in their own powers which is a
necessity of success. The engineer of the past had
been largely trained by the ''trial and error system, " as it may be called, and a very costly system
it had proved. In fact, he had been ob1iged to
make f r ials for himself under all the disadvantages
of isolation and the lack of scientific guidance.
The knowledge of different forms of energy had
greatly increased; new materials of con struction
were being introduced, and the demand for new
effects was making the old tules insuffici~:nt or
useless. Theory and practice had become so
interdependent that an absolute connection between
them was necessary for their advancement. In
these new laboratories it would be possible to
supply a remedy for this state of affairs. In the
worksh ops, also, the student would learn what
good work was, how it sh ould be done, and h ow
long it should take to do it. He would, therefore,
be fitted to direct and supervise with intelligence
the work of the mechanic. B ere, too, the student
would become familiarised with machinery of the
most modern and b est types.
On October 25, 1890, the corner-stone of the
Engineering Buildings was laid by His Excellency
L ord Stanley of Preston, Governor-General of
Canada. From that time the work was rapidly
pushed forward. The faculty took possession of
each part as completed, and the Engineering
and Physics Buildings were formally opened
by L ord Stanley on February 24, 1893. On that
occasion a large number of distinguished guests
were present from all parts of the continent;
many interesting addresses were made at the
time, and afterwards an insp er-tion was made of

196
the ~ui~dings. Time will not permit a detailed
descnptwn of these great sources of instruction,
but a few have been selected as illustrations and
the reader may generalise from t hem.
'
. As practical ideas have prevailed very largely
1n the arrangement of these buildings, we n aturally turn our steps first to the source of power,
and proceed at once t o the thermodynamic laborat ory.
~'he T_he~mod !J?ttam.ic Laborato1y.- This laboratory,
wh1?h 1s 1n connection with the subject of heatengines, has a very notable equipment. The great
feature of interest is the four-cylinder steam engine
arranged double-tandem fashion, and intended for
use in a large number of totally different ways.
This magnificent machine, designed by M essrs.
Schonheyder and Druitt H alpin, of L ondon, under
the general direction of Professor Carus-Wilson of
McGill College, was manufactured by Messrs. Y ~tea
and Thorn, B lack burn, and is extremely creditable
in the results it has given to all concerned.
The engine may be described as a doubletandem inverted direct-acting quadruple-expansion
engine, t o work at 200-lb. pressure on the gauge,
The cylinders of each engine are 6i in., 9 in.,
13 in., and 18 in. in diameter respectively, and the
stroke of all 15 in. The two engines may be
uncoupled from each other, and run at different
rates of speed, on the plan proposed by Mr. John
I. Thornycroft, and already carried out on the
triple-expansion engines at Owens College, Manchester ; and in this way the advantages of
variation of relative cylinder-volume ar e to some
extent obtained.
The measurement of the p ower delivered to the
brakes is made by means of hydraulic brakes of the
type designed by the late 1\fr. R. E. Froude, and
improved by Professor Osborne Reynolds. One of
these brakes is, in view of the disconnection spoken
of above, fitted to each crankshaft; while an
alternative method ia supplied by an excellent r opebrake, kept cool by a stream of water on the inner
side of t he wheel rim, on the plan first suggested
by Mr. Ha.lpin.
The steam pipes about the cylinders, which are of
copper, are so arranged that the engine may run
either q uadruple, t riple, double, or single expansion,
and as the pipes ar e led both to condenser and
atmosphere, all these types may be t ried either
condensing or n on-condensing. The method of
exhausting into t he condenser on all occasions,
whether working with a vacuum or not, will, however, b e adopted, so that a double measurement
of the water used by the engine may be made.
The cylinders are all jacketed on the sides, top,
and bottom, and Willans' coils ar e also fitted to t h e
compressi ve cylinders. Variation of the clearance
volume is made on the low-pressure cylinder by
por ts having movable pistonl! therein. 1'he system
of measurement adopted is as follows :
Having been weighed before entering the boiler,
the steam used by the engine is tested just before
entering the low-pressure cylinder for its dryness
by both a Peabody and a Barrus calorimeter.
Indicator cards may be taken n ot only from the
cylinders, but from the steam ches ts and inter mediate receivers, and about two dozen of the best
indicators have been supplied for this purpose.
The steam is discharged from the low-pressure
cylinder into a surface condenser, from which, when
condensed, it is pumped by an air pump, worked
either independently or from the main steam pipe
into the measuring tanks, where it is carefully
weighed and its temperature taken. It then ret urns to t he feed suction tank for use in the boiler
a<Yain. On its way thither it passes thr ough four
f;ed h eaters, which are successively supplied with
exhaust steam from t he auxiliary engines, steam
from the second and firs t receiver, and live steam
from t he boiler. In this way the feed is heated
almost up t o boiler temperature, and a saving which
was predicted on thermodynamic grounds by Prof essor J ames H. Cotterill in April, 1800, is secured.
This system has been tried practically also by vVeir
in England, and Peck Wheeler in America, alt hough
in a very imperfect way.
The water from the steam jackets is weighed,
and not as is usual, estimated by the imperfect
means ~sually employed, in a closed tank, so that
there is no loss by escaping steam. Four vessels,
standing a pressure of 200. lb:, receive the water
as it is condensed by radiatwn from the steam
j ackets. \Vhen observed to be full by the gaugeglass attached, they are connecte~ by a loose
coupling with the closed tank on a weigh-scale, and

E N G I N E E R I N G.
after the pr essure has fallen to about 10 lb., the
water they contain runs completely out, and is
carefully weighed in t h e closed tank after it has
been disconnected.
The circulat ing water is weighed in two large
tanks containing about 2000 lb. of water, and in
this way the accuracy of the Schonheyder watermeter, through which it also passes, can be directly
tested. The temperature of t he incoming and outgoing water is read by delicate thermometers.
In this way a complete balance-sheet of the h eat
supplied, used , and rejected by the engines is
made, and the materials for the study of cylinder
condensation by Hirn's analysis are ready t o
hand.
Steam is supplied to this engine by a water-tube
boiler of the Y arrow type, as made for torpedoboats, of 120 horse-power. This horse-power can
only be obtained under for ced draught and when
burning from 40 to 50 lb. of coal per square foot
of grate per hour. F or this purpose this boiler is
placed in a closed stok ehold into which air is blown
by a 5 horse-power Sturtevant blower.
F or pressures to 120 lb. , four 60 h orse-power
Babcock-Wilcox boilers are available. Two of
these are supplied with forced draft, and are completely fitted for testing ; while the other two are
available for heating and power purposes.
The 10 in. by 12 in. Robb-Armstrong automatic
cut-off engine, and the 9 in. by 14 in. compound
tandem, 16 in. stroke, by L aurie Brothers, are also
available for experimental purposes. They are
completely fitted for testing, and the heat balance
for them can be as fully made out as for the (!Uadruple engine, since they are connected to the
condenser.
A 10 horse-power WoodberryMerrill-Stirling type
of hot-air engine, a 6 h orse-power Atkinson cycle,
and a 4 horse-power Otto gas engine complete the
equipment as far as prime movers are concerned;
b ut a. 40 horse-power double air compressor for
experimental purposes is in course of construction
in the workshops, and will, it is hoped, soon be
completed.

[AuG. 18, 1 8gJ.

without local heating, and yet these boilers were
constructed so as to be trustworthy. Mr. Brown,
of Edinburgh, remarked t hat many of the circumstances mentioned in the paper were t hings of the
past. Another speaker said the cracks that had
occurred in furn aces and sh ells were due to going
too high in tensile strength, and when sharp bending
was required the carbon sh ould be reduced. This
higher steel wn.s used in order to get a r eduction of
thickness. Internal parts should n ot exceed 2Gt
t ons, with not les8 than 25 per cent. extension.
Dr. White said that Mr. Stromeyer was right in the
statements he had made to t his extent, that it was
possible to injure the splendid material boilermakers now had at their command if it were not
properly treated. The evils that arose under these
circumstances, h owever, were well known to all
competent engineers, and were t horoughly guarded
against in a well-regulated establishment. M. Daymard had indicated an excellent principle when he
said t hat tests should be r egulated in regard to t he
position occupied by the material, and t he speaker
who followed was right as to t he fact t hat too
strong a steel might easily be used for parts that
had to be flanged. In the past there had been
fractures of internal parts, but he entirely agreed
with the author in what seernecl to be his opinionthat steel boilers were in no way treacherous. The
author's object had very probably been to bring together all the bad t hings that could occur to him as
likely t o happen to a boiler, and not to state
them as r epr esentative of latter-day practice.

SHIPOWNERS AND SHIPBUILDERS.

The last paper r ead in Section III. was con
tributed by Mr. Denny, of Dumbarton, and was
entitled, "Shipowners and Shipbuilders in their
Technical Relationships. " This paper we shall
print in full shortly. The discussion was opened by
Lord Brassey, who said t hat shipowners r equired
more training in technical matters t han t hey at
present received. They should not have merely
commercial knowledge, but also technical instruction. The author appeared to t hink that the intervention of the Board of Trade might be dispensed
with advantageously in shipbuilding operations.
THE INTERNATIONAL MARITIME
No doubt many shipowners and shipbuilders were
CONGRESS.
to be trusted to do their work without State super(Concluded from page 172.)
vision, but it would be invidious to draw distinctions,
T.I:IE last meeting of Section IlL was held on the and there were many occasions when t he seriousmorning of Friday, July 21, Dr. White again ness of t he results that mi~ht follow on inefficient
occupying the chair, when t he proceedings com- work, in loss of life, to say nothing of property,
menced with the reading of Mr. C. E. Str omeyer's demanded that there should be no uncertainty as
to the t rustworthiness of vessels, and therefore
paper on
vigilance should not be relaxed. These statements
MARINE BoiLER CoNSTRUCTION.
did not, however, include the assertion t hat preThis paper we shall print in full shortly. The sent arrangements could n ot be improved. He
first speaker in the discussion was M. Daymard, would be glad to see a permanent body attached
who said he had been much impressed by t h e cir- to t he Board of Trade, and on this shipowners
cumstances t hat arose in connection with the should be strongly represented. The arrangements
original boilers of the Levadia. These boilers, it made in regard to the L oadLine Committee would
will be remembered, gave out in the most -remark- afford precedents.
M. Daymard said it was important to have collaable manner when subjected to test, and the
speaker had then said to himself t hat it would be boration between t he shipbuilder and the shiplong befor e he would venture to use steel as a owner ; the improvement in design being only ar
material for boiler construction. E vents pro- rived at by an entente cordiale, not only between
greased so rapidly, however, that he was very owner and builder, but also with the captain and chief
shortly using first mild steel, and t hen steel of a engineer. In this country he found very pleasant
harder nature, and this with perf-ect success. relationships existing between many shipbuilders
That also applied to t he internal parts of t he and their customers, t he shipowners. He would
boiler, there being no cracks in the furnaces, refer, as notable examples, to the case of H arland
but the crowns had come down in some cases and W olff and the White Star Line. The late Sir
through over-heating, doubtless due to the presence William Pierce was most intimately conn ected with
of oil in the boiler. It was surprising how small a the Guion Line. M . Daymard produced and handed
quantity of oil would have a deleterious effect, and round for inspection a printed paper of instructions
for that reason he was now filtering the feed. which t he Compagnie Generale Transatlantique
Another French engineer said he had been struck gave to their ships' officers. These indicated
with the free and easy manner in which they used arrangement of machinery and other technical
steel boxes for locomotive boilers in the United points. The document is one of gr eat inter est.
States, but in that case they adopted thin plates.
Professor Biles said t hat the most important part
Dr. White pointed out that in England we do the of t he paper just r ead was t hat referring t o the posisame with t he locomotive t ype of marine boiler. tion of the Board of Trade. This body differ ed from
I t was the common practice with rail way engineers the Admiralty inasmuch as it represented superto use copper for fire- boxes, and then there was no visors, shipowners, and shipbuilders ; whilst the
trouble, the difficulties which arose being chiefly Board of Trade only represented the supervising
due to the difference in temperature. It would be department, and had to look to the safety of the
within the knowledge of those p resent that Mr. public. It was a part that might r eadily be over
Yarrow gave preference to copper as a material for done, and t.he sa!lle rema:rk. applied to some extent
fire- boxes. Mr. Archibald Denny hoped that th e to t he reg1stratwn soCiettes. These, however,
author would very much qualify some of the opinions were m0re amenable to pu?lic o.pinion , which ha.d
put forth in t he paper. I t would be very dangerous compel~ed them to adm1t shipowners to the1r
if it were t o go forth that these were of every-.day g~vernm g body. .He unde~stood that Mr. Denny
occurrence. At any rate, he would say such thmgs w1shed a consultat1v~ comm1ttee to be added to the
were not known in his firm, and his partner, Mr. Board of Trade, but the speaker would go further,
Brock, held that they were not able to build boilers and give it executive powers. The Board of Trade

AuG. 18, 1893.]

E N G I N E E R I N G.

would t hen be strengthened by issuing orders more concrete, but they had never used such large bags
intelligently framed. Reference had been made to as in La Guaira Harbour, where bags of 160 tons
boiler power in ships. In cargo steamers it was a were used in courses in the breakwater ; and he
good thing to have full boiler power and a minimum would like to have some information as to how long
number of men, but in high-speed steamers it was these bags of cement would last. Mr. Conrad said
better to cut the boiler down and have a bigger they had employed bags of concrete in Holland for
boiler-room staff. That fact accounted for the protecting and making more solid some breaklarger proportion of boiler power there was in waters.
Mr. Mackinnon asked for information as to t he bed
the vessels built on the east coast; whilst on the
Clyde the opposite prevailed. He agreed that logs in which the bags of concrete were placed. There
at sea were not. kept as they should be ; the had been, he said, an entire absence in all the papers
chief reason was that the shipowner did not put read by the foreign representatives of information
into the hands of his engineering staff better as to the qualities of cement employed. There were
methods. For instance, he would take the method great varieties, and he felt t hat Portland cement
of registering the engine power. It was usual to was often employed when it was entirely out of
take cards at inter vals and refer them to the highest place; for instance, between high and low water,
piston speed made by the engines. Captain Hodg- where the cement was often entirely washed out. This
kinson, of the British India Company, as repre- had been his experience in connection with works
senting the shipowner, said that if the shipbuilders he had carried out for theGovernment of Uruguay, in
would give more information to the shipowners forming a breakwater across a harbour. There was
there would be a better chance of t he ship being nothing but sand below for a considerable d epth,
constructed in accordance with the work she had to and it was moved by currents of water. In conperform. Mr. T. C. Read, of Leeds, on the other structing the works h e employed quick -setting
hand, said that if the owner would give all particu- cement, and the whole length of the breakwater thus
lars he required, he would get the right ship for his became practically a monolith of great length, so
work- that is to say, if the builder were a naval that the local currents could pass underneath it
architect and not a 'box-maker. " Some cargo without injuring the structure. The works, he
ships he had seen could never have been designed said, were fully described in the Proceedings of
by naval architects. Mr. Denny went too far in the Institution of Civil Engineers.
The French gentleman who first spoke said that
saying the law was such that all ships now had to
be classed. Being classed meant that the vessel they only used quick-setting cement in France for
was fit to carry dry and perishable cargo, and some facing the works, believing th:i.t it did not last so
ships to which they gave the load line did not meet well as the slow-setting cement.
these conditions, although they might be perfectly
Mr. Vernon Harcourt said it was generally supseaworthy.
posed that quick-setting cement did not get to the
Mr. R oylance said he was glad to hear a good same point of perfection in hardness as the slower
word for the registration societ ies. They were setting cements. Prior to his going to Alderney
generally looked on as a nuisance; but when in in 1870, they had been using Medina cement, and
trouble owners were glad to fall back on them, and it was supposed that the injury done to the break get help from their very experienced officers.
water was partly due t o this cement. The r epairs
Mr. Saunders did not agree with Mr. Biles that were executed in Portland cement, except that
the shipbuilder should be an engineer. He thought Medina cement was used for pointing. There were
it was better that he should trust special points to many other cases where the quick-setting cement
specialists. I t was a great thing for this country had not proved satisfactory. H e should like to
that there were so many professional naval archi- know whether the depositor used had not injured
t ects who were not builders, and it would be a good the bags, and whether Mr. Carey had any further
thing for his country- Germany-if t here were experience as to whether the oozing of the concrete
more t here.
out of the bags t ended to form a large solid mass.
Mr. Denny, in replying to the discussion, said He was quite sat isfied that the larger the bag of
there seemed to be some misapprehension in regard concrete the more satisfactory the work, but it was
to the views put forth in his paper. He did not largely a question of cost of plant in depositing t he
wish to end, but to amend, the Board of Trade. heavy bags. One did not always have such oxtenThat Government department had been in the si ve works to carry out. H e thought that all the
habit of appointing small committees on various papers read on the subject proved what Mr. Conrad
technical subjects. These were not satisfactory ; had pointed out, that it was better to lay t he
they should be permanent and executive. He did concrete blocks in courses rather than laying them
not agree with Mr. Read that all vessels were not pell-mell.
practically to be classed at Lloyd's-a remark which
Mr. Wolff Barry said too little was told in papers
called forth a reply from the latter gentleman, and as to the specific gravity of the concrete bags, which
a short discussion between the two speakers depended on the material used, whether the gravel
followed, in which we rat her gathered that Mr. was granite or light stone. He had seen at the
Read had the ad vantage.
mouth of the Tyne cement concrete blocks made
Dr. White, in summing up the discussion, said that with t he refuse of cinder slag, and he believed the
if the paper brought t ogether the owner, the naval engineer was satisfied to pay the extra cost to
architect, the constructing engineer, the captain, increase t he specific gravity.
and the chief engineer connected with any vessel, it
Mr. W. R . Kinniple described briefly his cement
would have achieved a notable result. He did not grout system of construction, now well known, and
think knowledge in all directions could be combined already fully illustrated in E NGINEERING.
in any one man. It was, he continued, for the
Mr. W. Dicey Kay explained, by a section drawn
builder to put the results of his investigations in on the blackboard, the method of constructina a
the hands of the ships' officers. These results need commercial harbour at Lerwick, in the Shetl:nd
not, and should not, be exhaustive, but should be Islands.. The site was not much exposed, and the
such that they would convey the broad deductions foundatiOn of the front and back wall consisted of
resulting from scientific investigation.
two layers of bags of concrete, the contractor's
The proceedings in Section Ill. were then brought price being 25s. per cubic yard. Above were conto a conclusion by a few complimentary remarks cr~te blocks to .Iowwater ~ark, the upper part
from Dr. vVhite, and by a vote of thanks proposed by bemg concrete 1n mass, wh1eh cost 2ls. per cubic
M. Daymard as representing }'ranee, and seconded yard. The space between the two walls was filled
~y Mr. ~aunders, who r epresented Germany; the in with rubble.
1nternat10nal character of the Congress thus beina
Mr. F. N. Th?rowgood asked if the temperature
maintained.
b
affected the settmg of t he concrete very materially.
At Madras break water, where he was for nearly
CoNCRETE IN SEA WORKS.
thirteen years, the high temperature added to the
Section I. concluded their meetings on Friday difficulties. He found that they could not set a
afternoon, the 21st ult., when Sir Andrew Clarke block. unless it was two mo~ths ol.d, and during
presided. Two papers were read by Mr. A. E. that t1me they had to prevent 1t gettmg dry before
Carey, one on "La Guaira Harbour 'Vorks, Vene- it set chemically.
zuela," and t he other on "Harbours and Ferry
Mr. Carey, in replying, said that the life of a
System of Denmark. " We hope to print both sack was very great; the sacking became permeated
~emoi:s in ful~, and may therefore proceed to the by the concrete, and the effect was that t he sack
d1scuss1on, wh1eh was largely taken up with a con- blocks became united and formed practically one
sideration of the use of concrete in sea works- mass. As to the nature of the foundation the
breakwaters, &c.
shore portion was to some extent on sand: and
A representative from France said that there underneath there were boulders and large rock
they adopted the system of depositing bags of masses. The sand was the cause of difficulties

197
in constructing t he first part of the breakwater. Mr. Sawyer suggested that it might
have been expedient to have used set blocks
in prefer ence to the small canvas sacks used.
He was not personally responsible for the
shore portion of the work. Reference had been
made to the quality of cement used. Of course
it was easy to make quick-set.t ing ceme~t. It
was merely a question of the relat1ve proportiOns of
the clay and lime, but excepting for special purposes
the use of quick-setting cement was not commendable because with the slow-setting cement there
was 'less likelihood of the work disintegrating in the
lapse of time. He was pleased that the ?eme~t
question had been raised, because to t he eng1neer ~t
was of the greatest importance. The harbour englneer had to depend upon Portland cement almost as
much as a soldier carrying out a campaign had to
depend on gunpowder. Mr. Vernon Harcourt had
raised the question of the size of the bags. The
limit of size was the quantity and weight that could
be deposited without undue setting prior ~o its
deposition, and the 160-ton bags were conven1ently
worked, being deposited with wonderful ac?uracy
and with very little loss of concrete. H e d1d not
admit that the cost of plant was necessarily high
for large blocks, because with the set block system
they required cranes t o lift heavy weights. Proceeding, Mr. Car ey referred to a point raised by Mr. Barcourt as to t he wave recoil, and as to its effect on a
vertical wall, and on one protected by blocks in front.
The point was suggested by a photo exhibited, and
which we hope to reproduce along with the paper.
This photograph showed that t he waves of recoil
meet on-coming rollers and to a large extent
neutralise their force, t he result being a cascade of
water many feet away from the wall. Mr. Carey
doubted whether the oscillating waves wer e converted into waves of translation without causing
a. severe blow upon the works itself. Mr. Stevenson,
from experiments made at Dunbar, found that t he
oscillating wave produced very little more than the
hydrostatic pressure, and made out t hat the effect
of t he conversion of the one into the other was to
increase the destructive force on the structure by
about six times. In reply to Mr. Barry as to the
specific gravity, he stated that the material used
was rock. It was extremely heavy concrete, 127 lb.
to 130 lb. to the cubic foot. H e had not, h e said ,
become a convert to Mr. Kinipple's system,
although the r esults produced were extremely good.
Mr. Thurowgood had raised the question of temperature, and he might say that no special precautions were needed to prevent the chemical action
setting in too rapidly in the case of the mass
concrete.
A paper on "Rock Dredging Works in some
Italian Harbours" (Leghorn, Genoa, Palermo), by
Gius Cimino and C. V erdinois, was held as read.
This we shall print in full. Mr. Andrew Brown,
of Messrs. Simons and Co., Renfrew, who had constructed the plant, gave some details of the
dredgers.
Sir Robert Rawlinson, who had enter ed t h e
meeting during the discussion, was congratulated
on his r ecovery from a r ecent accident, and other
compliments having been paid to the chairman,
t he secretaries, &c., the proceedings terminated.
Friday's proceedings in Section IV. open ed,
under the presidency of Sir R obert Ball, F.R S.,
wit h the r eading of Mr. D. A. Stevenson's paper on
RECENT I MPROVEMENT IN LIGHTHOUSES.
This paper, of the form of an historical 1esnme,
which we shall present to our readers, was couched
in unmistakably pro domo rhetoric, which Mr.
K en ward and Mr. Wigham could not but r egret.
Mr. Stevenson was not present to defend himself
against the imputation of having, in a paper which
is undoubtedly a valuable contribution to our
literature on the development of lighthouses and
their outfit, done but scanty justice to Fresnel and
to Sir J~me.s D ouglass, "who devised gas-burners,
the gas 1ssu1ng from surface holes as in the ordin ary
Argand," and who "improved and enlarged the
lanterns of the Trinity House lightships. " If ''the
hyper-radiant suggested by Messrs. Stevenson in
1869 is the most notable improvement of r ecent
times, " asked Mr. 'Vigham, what shall we say of
Mr. Barbier's still larger lens of 2 met r es focal
length ? At the t ime of the South F oreland experiments our pr~sent perfect lenses were practically
unknown; yet oil and gas proved, under certain
circumstances, superior to electricity, and with
these new lenses the illuminating power of oil and

198

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E N G I N E E R I N G.

200
gas increased by 100 per cent. The time, h e
thought, had come for fresh practical comparative
tests ; h e was willing t o do his share, and had made
an offer to t hat effect. That the elect ric beam had
no rival in ordinary clear weather he did not doubt ;
about the behaviour of th e illuminants in fog and
haze, however, authorities differed widely.
Sir R obert Ball, in concluding the debat e, did
n ot see any n ecessity for renewed experiments at
all. He could testify to th e excellence of Mr.
Wigham's lights. But scientists h ad, in the South
Foreland and in the French experiments, all the
data n eeded, and must be permitted to draw their
conclusions, which would satisfy them.
. Mr. Ken ward had previously expressed a different opinion. We did r equire further results.
If the Sydney electric light, with 15 and 25 millim etre carbons, perfected by Dr. Hopkinson, was
visible at 10 n1iles in foggy weather, a second order
light at Spezzia was useful at 24: miles. Small compressed lights produced very r emarkable effects.
The "Eddystone Lighthouse'' at Earl's Court, with
a lamp 18 in. high, 250 millimetre radius, 65 millim etre carbons, gave a beam of almost three million
candles, fifteen times as powerful as that of the
real Eddystone.
Professor Grylls Adams quoted figures from the
South Foreland repor ts which ought to render
experts cautious as r egards slight gains in penetrating p ower. Mr Harold Dixon and h imself found
th e electric light str onger one night at eleven
miles' distances than t he oil and gas light, lost sight
of it last and picked it up again first, there being
perh aps a mile and a half in favour of the arc.
But, if a light of 100 candles is visible at 1000 ft. ,
then 1000 candles would, by the laws of absorption , under ordinary atmospheric conditions, be
visible at 1300 ft. only. Again, the 108 Wigham
gas jets distributed over a circle of 18 in. in diameter could be seen at a distance of 80 ft . ; but a
single one of these jets was visible at 70 ft.
Mr. Thomas Burt inquired whether the order of
three lights in a line would not affect t he r esults ;
the central one would appear stronger, he thought .
Professor Adams hardly believed that.
The n ext paper, by Mr. Domenico L o Gatto,
COMPARISON OF GAS AND ELECTRIC LIGHT
LIGHTHOUSES WITH OPTI CAL APPARATuS
LARGE DIMENSl ONS ,

IN
OF

which we also intend to publish in full, winds

up in favour of gas illumination as affording
the most easy working conditions. Practically
the paper confines itself to t he Wigham lights of
1891 on T ory I sland. This circumstance called
forth the president ial query, whether the author
had visited T ory I sland, and on this question being
n egated, the ad vice from t he chair was to pay a visit
and to present another paper. The discussion
turned mainly on the adaptability of the electric
arc to flashing lights, whose wonderful efficacy is
universally granted now. Mr. L o Gatto himself
remarked that his paper was written before t he
publication of the new French experim~nts. on t he
je11lX eclairs, and that he had modified hiS VIeWS ..
Mr. Wigham dwelt upon the great ease w1th
which gaslight could completely be extinguished
and relighted by a small standing jet, to burst out
at once to full brilliancy. Sir George Stokes had
pointed out to him that when the gas was re.ally
extinguished, and not only turned down, ~ htt.l e
explosion ensued, whose en ergy caused this brilliancy. The naphthalene gas was perfectly safe.
He was pleased to find a friend in Mr. Lo Gat to,
and on ce more urged the necessity of official tests
at Howth Bailey with a Ba.rbier lens.
Professor .Adams drew attention to the r emarkable p owers which M~. B ourdelles obtaine~ .by
means of his feux eclcvws-23, and even 40 milhon
candles. In real fog-he wished to classify fogs-we sh ould probably have to r ely upon the siren.
Mr. W. T. Douglass thought the electric light the
only on e possible for very J?Owerfu~ effects, taking
in account also t he services whiCh lenses can
r ender. The power of the .T?ry I sland light had
b een estimated at seven milhons, and by Mr. L o
Gatto at over on e million ; in r eality i t was most
likely considerably under one million.
In the third paper,

increase of the Suez Canal traffic. The revenues

from t he light dues being r etained in the general
funds of the Egyptian Government, it was difficult
to arrive at an estimate. In 1891, however, th e
receipts and expenditure of the Light house Department amounted to E123, 000 and E26, 000, leaving
a surplus of no less than E97 ,000. These figures
included the Mediterranean ports ; but as the light
dues at Alexandria, and also the tonnage, were
much lower than those on the Red Sea, that surplus might be attributed to the R ed Sea light
dues.
In 1892 th e profits fell to E82,000.
The gross tonnage of the Suez Canal increased
from 1. 4 million tons in 1872 to 12 millions in
1892. Since 1875 the dues charged in t he Red
Sea were 2 piast res a ton on vessels of 800 t ons
and under, and 1 piastre for vessels of over 800
tons. As t he number of lights, at present costing
6000l., did n ot increase, the dues would leave
20,000l. net annually. The late Khedive promised
t o hand these profits over to the Lighthouse Department, if the new tariff agreed to by Great Britain
in 1889 should be accepted by t he other P owers.
The tariff has n ot been accepted . With the ligh ting of the Egyptian portion of the .Red Sea Commander Hodgkinson has no fault to find. Not so
with the Turkish p ortion. Lighthouses are urgently
required at the south end, at J ebel Tier, Zebayr,
Abu Ail, and a lightship on Mocha F lats, all under
Turkish jurisdiction. That shipwrecks are terribly
common there, was confirmed by Mr. Douglass.
Perim Island (British), with its very dangerous
currents, has only five lights of the sixth order.
Mr. K enward almost launched the discussion into
dangerous waters by inquiring whether political
complications had anything to do with the absence
of progress. Commander R odgkinson warded this
off by repeating that the territories named were
all claimed by Turkey. Turkey, however, does
not make any indirect profit from the canal traffic,
whilst E gypt does so. Yet something must be
done, and the author proposes a small permanent
international commission to purchase both Turkish
and E gyptian rights, and to acquire from Egypt
all lighthouses and maintain the same, with power
to levy dues and to enforce payments. Absolute
unanimity of all the P owers would be required.
The Suez Canal Company, he thought, would give its
cordial support to some such scheme. 'l'he author
was pr esent, and added a few remarks to h is able,
businesslike paper.
Before the Congress adj ourned finally, Mr.
Kenward announced that Mr. G. Belleville had
submitted a very interesting paper, '' Balisage et
Eclairage de l'Estuaire de la Seine," too lat.e, unfortunately, to be formally accepted.

THE NEXT MEETING OF THE CONGRESS.

The date of the next meeting of the Congress is
not fixed . vVe refer those interested in this matter
to the letter from Mr. L. F . Vernon Harcourt,
British member of the Paris P ermanent Commission, which appeared on page 186 of our last

lSSUe.

BRITISH COLONIES AT CHICAGO.

I . -THE C.APE OF Goon HoPE.

As might have been expected, America impresses
the eye at every point by the very profusion and
variety of her exhibits, t hese testifying in the most
eloquent manner possible to the boundless natural
r esources of the great r epublic, to t he indomitable
courage, the inventive enterprise, and the vigorous
mental activity of her people. France excels in
everything in which the artistic element preponderates. Germany is unrivalled in h er effects,
and especially in the departments of manufactures,
machinery, mining, and electricit.y gives marvellous
proofs of her industrial vigour. Amongst the
various countries, t he British Empire unquestionably holds her own, but as unquestionably she is
enabled t o do so only by the aid of her colonies,
more especially by the Cape of Good H ope, New
South Wales, and the Canadian Dominion, each of
which makes a magnificent sh ow of raw materials.
Canada proves h erself rich in cereals, fruits,
minerals, fishery and dairy products. New South
Wales gives eviden ce of the vast natural resources
of the Australians by her fine exhibits of wool,
THE T URKISH AND E GYPTI AN LIGHTING AND
wheat, and maize; of gold, silver, tin, copper, and
LIGHT D uEs IN THE RED SEA,
antimony ores; of coal, building stone, and timbers
Commander Geor ge Hodgkinson, R.N., regretted of fine grain and great durability. Cape Colony
that the improvement in the lighting of the makes a perfectly marvellous r evelation of her
Red Sea h aq n ot kept pace with the enormous actual and potential wealth in wool and mohair,

[AuG. 18, 1893.

wheat and other cereals, diamonds and ostrich
plumes, in the marketing of which she enjoys
practically an undisturbed monopoly. Victoria
and New Zealand help t he colonial display with
s mall but choice exhibits of wool ; India and
Ceylon with grains, seeds, fibres, timbers, teas,
and spices ; J amaica and Trinidad with sugar and
coffee, and British Guiana with sugar and timber;
each and all of t hese colonies indicate, rather than
illustrate, their resources, and con1bine in making
t he exhibition of r aw products of the British E mpire
absolutely incomparable.
The Cape of Good H ope Court presents a most
attract ive display in the vast .Agricultural Building, as is testified by the crowds of visitors
that are constantly wedged within the all too
limited boundaries. With the restricted space
at his disposal, Mr. Lud wig Wiener, the Cape
Commissioner, has s ucceeded in setting forth
the varied resources of Cape Colony in a most
striking and charming manner. While here practical
utilitarianism is the ruling motive of the display,
and while there is n o straining after mere decorara tive achievement, as is the case in many of the
United States courts in the same building, the
effects attained are highly artistic, both in the
aggregate and in respect to details. The extremely
varied nature of the materials at hand has largely
conduced to this satisfactory result . The court is
inclosed by a light framework of t imber, provided
with large panels of plate glass, t hrough which a
glimpse of the treasures within is obtained. In the
centre space stands a trophy that at once attracts
attention, two splendid specimens of the ostrich
tribe, male and female) with chicks, eggs, and the
nat ural bush upon which the birds feed. The
large birds are finely plumaged, and were especially selected at a show at Grahamstown by Mr.
Douglass, whose book on "Ostrich Farming at the
Cape" has made his name well known in Englan d,
America, Australia, and, indeed, all the world
over. As an appropriate background is arranged a
copy of an oil painting by R olando, a group of
ostriches upon one of the Cape farms, and thereby
giving a further idea of the appearance, the
habits, and the surroundings of the birds. Close
by is a great pyramid of ostrich eggs, some of
them in the natural state, and others tastefully
painted with characteristic bits of Cape scenery,
flowers, or ethnological types. Along the glass
walls of the court strings of painted eggs ar e
similarly used for decorative purposes. But, finest
display of all, are eight t rophies of ostrich plumea,
constituting no doubt the most magnificent exhibit
of feathers ever made at any previous international
show. The plumes are simply cleaned, being untouched by dye, and t he white, black, drab, and
fan cy feathers are all displayed, the beautiful snowwhite and clean black plumes predominating. At
the foot of each of the lofty stands lie bundles of the
feathers as made up for the market, a number of
these being supplied for exhibition purposes by Mr.
Hilton Barber, the well-known and enterprising
ostrich farmer of Cradock.
The whole back part of the court is occupied by
fleeces of wool, shown under glass and attractively
tied with blue ribbon. The two characteristic
kinds of Cape wool, the Karoo and the Grass Veldt,
are both on exhibition, there being no fewer than
500 fleeces in all. Among the exhibitors are Mr.
R . W. Southey, Mr. Rubidge, Mr. P . V. Van der
Byl, Mr. J . C. T. Musto, Dr. Smartt, Mr. C. H .
Hutton, Mr. George Blaine, and Mr. John Frost..
Miniature bales of snow-white washed wool are
shown by Messrs. Turnbull and Gay, Cores Road;
Messrs. Frater and lVlossop, of the Paarl Wool
Washery, and the Springfield Wool Washery,
Uitenhage. Some of the bales ar e opened, and
wool-men from various parts of the world handle
the fibre with evident interest and appreciation.
In addition to the wool are some 220 fleeces of
mohair, the silvery texture of which is much admired. The principal mohair exhibitors are Mr.
P. G. Gericke, Mr. J. McDonald, Mr. R. Featherstone, and Mr. R. Cawson. The object lesson as
regards the Cape pastoral industry is completed by
stuffed specimens of t ha Angora goats, both kids
and beautiful full-gr own animals, the fat-tail sheep
and the Boer goat, together with a fine display of
skins of these animals, and also of the Cape merino.
The skins are the exhibit of Messrs. Van der Byl
and Co., of Cape Town. It should also be mentioned
that all the animnls in the court were stuffed by
Mr. Fred Sauter, New York, who by his work has
afforded ample proof of his skill as a taxidermist~

AuG. 18, 1893.]

E N G I N E E R I N G.

enerally it may be said of the wool and moh air of penguins, and close by are bottles of guano from
exhibits that they are extremely efl'ective, and prove the I cha.bod I slands, indicating yet another source
at an exceedingly opportune moment, when the of wealth at the Cape. South African fishes are
nited States wool duties are on the ove of being shown by life-coloured pictures collected in album
abolished, that the Cape can produce large supplies form. Ethnology is not forgotten in the display.
of the two fibres a.dmirably adapted to the require- There is quite a large collection of assegais, both
stabbing and throwing, oxhide shields, trumpets,
ments of American manufacturers.
The excellently arranged display of Cape wines is daggers, knives, clubs. belts, head-dresses, snuffan object lesson which may n ot improbably open up boxes, dishes, and other implements and utensils of
a wine export industry in the United States, and well many kinds, as used by the natives of , outh
illustrates tbe viticultural resources of outh Africa. Africa. A largt-' number of curios are presented
The selection made is j udicious and illustrative, in- by Sir Marshall Clarke, K.C.M.G., British Comcluding Stellenbosch, Old Brown Sherry, Wellington missioner in Basutoland, and others are loaned
Cape Hock, Constantia weet Frontigna.c, P aarl by the 1\1i. ses Shippard, sisters of 'ir ~ydney
Sweet Pontac, F. C. Sherry, Constantia R ed Musca- Shippard, the Queen'~ r epresentative in Bechuanadel, Hermitage, La.chrym<'e Christi, and four brands land. Photographs of Zulu, Kaflir, and other types,
of fine Old Dop Brandy, namely : Worcester, R obert- are exhibited. The Malays are r epresented by a
son, 1\ll ontague, and udtshoorn ; also another picture of 1\1a1ays at the Cape in full dress, and by
kind of brandy made by the Hon. T. T. Heatlie. Malay shoes, hats, head-dresses and handkerchiefs.
The exhibits were supplied by Messrs. Sedgwick Among other objects that attract attention, and
and Co., Messrs. V an Ry n and Co., Messrs. E . K . are of ethnographical value as exhibits, are a colGreen and Co., and the Government experimental lection of bushmen ston e implements, and a numfarm. They are arranged in a fine trophy of ber of curious rude engravings of ice-scratched
miniature barrels, flanked and crowned by bottles stone made by bushmen, and r epresenting such unvarying from B robdignagian proportions to tiny Lili- mistakable objects as elephants, giraffes, rhinoceros,
putian dimensions, with contents less than a wine- ostriches, and t rees. Scattered about upon the
walls are numerous photographs of characteristic
glassful.
The agricultural resources of the colony are Cape scenery, and scenes of everyday life. There
indicated by choice and goodly-sized samples of are also portraits of leading men in th e Cape
wheat, oats, barley, mealies, beans, peas, and len tils. Colony, Natal, the Orange Free State Republic,
Some of the wheat shown cannot be beaten in the and other South African territories. These include
whole Exhibition, the sample of bearded wheat Sir Henry and Lady Loch, Sir Marahall Clarke,
ydney Shippard. Bishop J ones, Mr. Cecil
supplied by Messrs. Ryan and Rood, of Malmes- Sir
b ury, running 68 lb. to the bushel. The grain- Rhodes, the Prime Minister, and Mr. T. E. Fuller.
growing capabilities of Basutoland and Bechuana- Cetewayo and his wives are also figures of interest.
land have not been forgotten in arranging the dis- Yet another feature of the court is an immense
play. The South African Milling Company are to map of South Africa, showing the country as far
the fron t with some barrels of choice fl our, the north as the Za.mbesi, and indicating at a. glance
quality of which is visible to t he eye through glass the districts of wool, mohair, cattle, wheat, gold,
lids. Other exhibits of a characteristic Cape type copper, and diamond production. Statistics are
are Kaffi.r corn, Tecka bulbs, aloes, buchu leaves, also displayed showing the value of the chief Cape
and bush tea. Tobacco is shown in the natural products : wool, mohair, hides and skins, ostrich
leaf and in the manufactured state, th e exhibitors feathers, copper, and diamonds, in the out-turn of
of the latter articles being the Congo Tobacco Com- several of which South Africa holds a virtual
pany. There are also tu be seen several varieties monopoly. The fig ures also give the num b~r of
of bark used for tanning purposes. Timbers are sheep, horses, pigs, and ostriches in the colony ;
well represented, slabs in the r ough on one side and the total mileage of railways ; and the shipping
polished on the other affording effective represen- tonnage, inwards and outward: . It may further
tation. Amoug the varieties thus sh own are olive be mentioned that handbooks are freely distributed
wood, camelthorn, stink wood, assegai wood, among visitors, dealing with such subjects as " The
kamassi, red milkwood, korsewood, salie, black Diamond Industry of South Africa, " ''The Vitibark, umzimbiti, uprigh t yellowswood, Ka.ffir plum culture of the Cape Colony," "Ostrich Farming in
wood, Clanwilliam cedar, white and r ed elms, Cape the Cape Colony, " and '' Wool and Mohair Probeech, black iron wood, ter blas - saffron wood, ductions of the Cape Colony. " In addition to the
karoo, and underbush. A few logs, both in the information thus provided, every single object in
r ough and with polished tops or faces, supplement the court is labelled, and most of these labels carry
the timber slabs. Among forest products should terse explanatory n otes.
also be mentioned the samples of Cape gum, colFrom what has been written it will be seen that
lected from the .Acacia, Harrida, and presented for the Cape Court in the Agricultural Building of the
exhibition by Messrs. B. G. L ennon and Co., Cape World's Fair admirably fulfils its object of giving to
Town. Everlasting flowers and the silver leaves visitors from all corners of the globo a vivid idea of
are largely and effectively used for ornamental pur- the immense resources of South Africa, and of
poses t hroughout the court, and as both of these are supplying definite information in detail to those
already expor ted in considerable q uantities from the who are interested in any particular line of proCape, this illustration of their adaptation to beau- ductive enterprise .
tiful d ecorations is valuable. N aturd Cape grasses
The formal opening 0f the Cape of Good H ope
are also used for the same purposes, and a further Court, in the Mining Building of the World's
glimpse in t he colony's flora is afforded by a collec- Columbian Exposition, took place on June 5, when
tion of pressed grasses and plants in an album and the first sieve-full of Kimberley diamoncliferous
a set of very beautiful paintings by Mr. Morstadt '' blue 11 ever washed upon American soil was
placed conveniently on a revolving stand, and examined upon the sorting table in the presence of
reproducing every variety of the Cape flora. Still a nEcessarily small but keenly interested gathering.
another collection of flor al studies, in water Around the inclosure a dense crowd ten deep
colours, is bound in album form, these being the pressed against the plate-glass panels, and eagerly
work of Miss En.ton and a genbleman from Rivers- watched every operation conducted within. When
the pebbly contents of the sieve were thrown with
dale, Cap~ Colony.
Not t he least popular feature of the court is the a rattle upon the table, Mr. Ludwig Wiener, the
fine display of elephants' liusks. Besides an assort- Cape Commissioner, accompanied by his secretary,
ment of billiard ball ivory, A.re four magnificent Mr. S. Berliner, son of the assistant commissioner,
tusks, two 6~ ft. in length, one 7 ft. in length, and stepped forward, and addr essing Mr. Frederick J.
the fourth 7l ft. in length, weighing r espectively V. Skiff, the highly popular chief of the Mines,
109 lb., 137 lb., and 158 l b. Skins of the lion, Mining, and Metallurgical Department, formally
springbok, leopard, silver jackal, gold jackal, and presented the court, in the name of the Cape
other varieties of wild beasts, and heads and horns Government, to the Administration of the World's
of many kinds of deer, adorn the walls and the Fair. Mr. Wiener proceeded to ann ounce that he
stands, one of which latter bears the name of had yet another and equally pleasant duty to perMessrs. Lawrence and Co., Kimberley.
The form . Through him the directors of the De Beers
karosses, or skin rugs, are greatly admired, one in Consolidated Mines Company invited Mr. Skiff to
plrticular attracting attention, insomuch as it is sort out the contents of the first sieve, and to accept
composed of 320 tails of the musk cat. These are as a memento of the occasion the first South
so neatly sewn together that the skill of the native African stone washed from its matrix in the
furriers who did the work is praised by every one United States of America. Mr. Skiff thereupon
who examines it. A fine collection of Cape birdEJ, n.dvanced to the table, and in regular lGmberley
of all sizes and of wonderful brilliancy of plumage, style commenced goin g over the pebbles. Almost
is shown in a large case. Among them are specimens immediately a goodly-sized stone, weighing from

201

4 to 5 carats, was discover ed, and five others

of lesser size were picked from the heap. When
the search was ended, Mr. Wien er handed the gift
of the De Beers Company to its recipient . Mr.
Skiff returned thanks on behalf both of the Administration and of himself personally. He considered that the De Beers Company, who virtually controlled the diamond market, and h ad
ther efore little or n othing to gain by ad vertising themselves, had performed a most p ublicspirited act in coming to Chicago with such a
splendid and complete exhibit. They had at gr eat
cost transported from Kimberley to Illinois a lifelike repr esentation of the various processes connected with the diamond-finding industry, and had
thereby provided a . cene of entrancing interest for
the visitors t o the Columbian ~xposition from
every corner of the world. H e sincerely hoped
that there would be some return, even if not an
adequate one, for this act of generosity and public
F:pirit. His one r egret was that it had been possible to give only such a circumscribed space to the
Cape exhibits in the Mining Building. Looking
around him, he felt that four times the area would
have been n ecessary to do j ustice to the unique
and varied display. He would have the stone presented to him cut and polished, and would always
value it as a souvenir of a most interesting occasion.
After this ceremony Mr. and Mrs. Wiener welcomed visitors in a small but prett ily decorated
r eception-room of t he court, and prosperity to t he
Cape of Good H ope was drunk in the wines of the
colony. Those present then distributed themse! ves over the inclosur e, and in pected the many
objects of interest on exhibition. To experts the
most valuable of t hese is a fine collection of specimens indicating the varied mineral r esources of
South Africa, from the Cape to the Zambesi. The
collection numbers 245 specimens, and was made
by the Cape Commissioners' instructions by Professor Ha.hn, of the South African College.
Around the show cases are stacked piles of rich
copper or e, yielding 33 per cent. of pure metal,
from Ooklop Mines, Namaqualand, and pyramids
of blue gr ound in the hard state from the Kimberley diamond fi elds. Among the other objects of
interest ar e diamondiferous gravel from the Vaal
River, Cyphergat coal, white and blue asbestos,
and crocidoli te. The last-named substance is
shown both in the natural state, and also polished
and fashioned into a great variety of beautiful and useful articles-inlaid table-tops, lrnife
handles, umbrella knobs, picture frames, desk
weights, cigar holders, paper knives, studs, sleeve
links, necklaces, and other forms of jewellery. A
set of cameos carved in Germany, and presenting
the profiles of four famous American Presidents,
\Vashington, Lincoln, Grant, and Garfield, especially elicits admiring comments from visitors who
for the first time see the artistic possibilities of this
beautiful substance. The walls of the room are
decorated with a large collection of mining photographs. There are also facsimile representations
of two famous Cape diamonds, the D e Beers diamond, the largest ever found in South Africa
weighing 420! carats, and the Litkie diamond;
205! carats, the second finest, but the finest for
size ever got from the river diggings. The adjoining section of the court is the reception -room
above-mentioned, where works of refer ence bearing on South Africa and files of the leading Cape
papers are kept. Here hangs a portrait of M.r.
Craven, secretary of the D e Beers Company, and
on t he partition just outside is a large picture of
the directors, with Mr. Cecil Rhodes seated in the
centre.
The remaining space is devoted to diamond washing, cutting, and polishing. Large plate-glass
panels permit every operation to be watched fron1
the outside; and all through the day, but especially
when the washing machinery is in operation
densely packed crowc s surround the inclosure.
staircase permits of the washing processes being
watched from above, and each afternoon, during the
t wo hours devoted to the work, a constant stream of
intere~ted observers pas~es up and down the steps,
a spec1al staff of Columbtan Guards being necessary
to k eep the crowd circulating. Three stalwart
Zulus assist in the operations; one of them
mounts guard at the gateway, with bead and horn
necklaces, assegais, club, and native headdress
complete, being a sort of exhibit himself, his
splendid physical proportions- h e is over 6! ft.
high-evoking a running fire of surprised comment
from the muscle-admiring Americans. The ore is

202

E N G I N E E R I N G.

[ Auc. 18, 1893.

70-TON HYDRAULIC RIVETER AT THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

CO~STRUCTED BY :MESSRS.

R.

D.

\VOODS AND CO., PHILADELPHIA.

(For Description, see Page 204.)

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brought to the washing mill from an inclosure some

400 yards distant, by means of a wire-rope tramway
erected by the Trenton Iron Company, New Jersey,
In the ore yard are stacked many hundred sacks cf
"blue, " which are carefully watched by the
Columbian Guards and the Zulus day and night.
The washing machinery has been erected by Messrs.
Fraser and Chalmers, of London and Chicago, who
supply so much of the mining machinery used at
Kimberley and elsewhere in South Africa. The
machine is sma.ll, but effective, being capable of
treating 450 loads per day, and reproduces in complete miniature the big machines erected at the
diamond fields, with rotary pan, dry elevator,
pulsator, sieves, &c., all cornplete. The operation
of sorting is shown on .a sorting table just a~ at
Kimberley, the expert 1n charge of the practical
operations being Mr. J. W. Cundill, an employe
of the D e Beers Company. Besides the ~ashin g
of the diamonds, the processes of cuttmg and
polishing are shown, Mr. Hampton, of the famous
New York firm, Messrs. Tiffany and Company,

being in rharge of these departments. All the

latest appliances used in the work are operated by
skilled employes of the firm in full view, t hrough
the medium of plate glass, of crowds of observant
onlookers. A choice representative collection of
Cape diamonds is similarly shown, the value of
which is between 30,000l. and 35,000l. These have
been arranged according t o colours and lustres upon
a plush-covered stand by Mr. Kuntz, of the Tiffany
h ouse. The biggest stone on exhibition weighs 282
carats, and is of yellowish t inge, but otherwise
without flaw or fault.
Altogether t he display made on behalf of the De
Beers Company is most complet e, and in certain
respects the best illustration of the South African
diamond industry ever given at any series of International exhibitions. The planning of the exhibits, moreover, in compact space and with
plate-glass inclosures, reflects great credit upon Mr.
"\'Viener, who, we believe, designed all the arrangements himself. Despite Mr. Skiff's remarks at the
opening ceremony about the De Beers having little

chance of securing an adequate reward for the enterprise they have shown in coming to Chicago, it
may be confiden tly predicted that much good will
be done. E very visitor t o the World's Fair who
inspects the Cape court in the Mines Building
g0es away with a deeply seated desire to become
possessed of one of t he sparkling gems whose history
from the washing t o the polishing process has been
illustrated b efore his or h er own eyes. The De
Beers exhibit, t herefore, is calculated t.o increase
the demand for diamonds, and an increased demand is an even more important fact or in conducing
to the prosperity of t h e industry than a diminished
supply. I t may be added that good finds of stones
are being made every day at t h e Jxhibition. Of
course very rich stuff has been sent over, and the
yield for two hours' washing runs up to twelve to
twenty diamonds. When Mr. \Vien er completes
his installation and organisation work in Chicago,
and his important duties call him back t o the Cape,
the charge of the court and its valuable contents
will be taken over by Mr. M. B erliner, of New

E N G I N E E R I N G.

r-:z:rs =

PENNSYLVANIA.
COMPANY,
IRON
125-TON STEAM HAMMER: BETHLEHEM
(For De3cription, see Page 205. )

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204

E N G I N E E R I N G.

[AuG. 18, 1893.

Y ?rk, who~e services in securi:og such eligible sites,

w1t~ ~roa~ passages on e~e~y side, for the Cape

exhtbtts 1n both the Mtnmg and Agricultural

Buildingd, have conduced in no small degree to the
success of the display.
In the Trans portation Department, a small but
interesting exhibit is made by the Cape Governnlent. A plan of Table Bay Harbour Works, in
charge of Mr. Henry Th waiLes, resident enaineer
gives an idea of the return got from the vast ~xpen:
diture of 1,832,300l., while a model of the Uape
Town Graving D ock informs shipping men that
.. outh ...\frica p ossesses facilities for refittin g and
repairing up on the most adequate scale, the d ock
being 54:1 ft. long, and therefore capable of taking
the largest Austrnlian and South African liners.
Plans of E1st L ondon Harbour and the Buffalo River,
a bird's-eye Yiew of Port Elizabeth, and a map of the
coast lin e of A1goa Bay, t ogether with photographs
of wharfs and shipping, complete the exhibit.
In the \Vomen,s :Building, Mrs. Wiener is in
charge of the Cape exhibits, and has set forth and
arranged a pretty and effective display, indicating
what women employ their leisure time with in
South Africa.
rrhere are two large plate-glass
stands, each 8 ft. high, with 5 H. front age, filled
with a variety of beautiful and delicate handiwork, the collection of which is, we believe,
largely due to the exertions of Lady L och .
Artistic mourning decoratious in everlastings have
been contributed by ~irs. Ogil vie ; Mrs. Liebermann, Miss Kearns, Miss Fleming, and Miss
Emanuel show a variety of fancy work, artistic
leather work, and painted scr eens. There is also a
display of brass hammer ed work, fish scale work,
and gold and silver filigree work.
Two literary
productions, one of which is the interesting
pamphlet on women 's work in South Africa, compiled by ~irs. Gill at the inRtance of Lady L och,
whose picture appears on the title-page, have a
conspicu ous place. In the second case the product ions of Basuto and B echuana women are shown, the
collection of bead ornaments, hats, armlets, native
pots and pans, spoons and dishes, mats, and the
so-called Basuto "opera cloaks," having been presented by Sir Marshall Clarke, British Commis~ioncr in Basutoland, and the Misses Shippard, of
Bechuanaland. Between the two cases, fittingly en. shrined in a massive silver frame, is a large p ortrait
of Miss Olive Schriener, whose "Story of an
African Farm " has won for h er a world- wide fame,
and placed a young South African girl on th e same
literary platform aa George Eliot, Mrs. Humphrey
\Yard, and the half-dozen other famous women
novelists of the century.
Although an appropriation of 2000l. was made by
the Transvaal Parliament for the representation of
the Republic at the World's Fair, no r esult followed. The Orange Free State Republic has an
excellent little court in the Agricultural Building,
in charge of which is Mr. E. R. Grobler, member
of the LegislatiYe Council of the Orange Free
State. A good assortment of wool is shown in
fl eeces and bales, greasy and scoured. Samples of
wheat, barley, and oats ; Indian corn and flour,
dried peaches, apricots, prunes, apples, pea rs, and
plums ; bottled fruits and jams, and tobacco and
cigars, also indicate the products of the country.
Elandsboontje, the r oot of the plant on which the
herds of eland mainly feed, is displayed, and some
beautifully prepared skins of deer and goats testify
to its excellent tanning properties. A collection
of mineral specimens, including coal, magnetic iron
ore, conglomerate gold q uartz, silver ore, and
copper or e is to be seen, while there is a small
assortment of diamonds, valued at 4000l., from the
J agersfontein and Koffetein mines. A handsome
trophy of ostrich plumes testifies further t? the
varied resources of the State. By way of continued
ornamentation and instruction are heads and h orns
of springbok, kodoc, eland, sable antelope, water
bok, blue bok, blue wildebeest, gemsbok, and
rhinoceros, stuffed specimens, male and female,
of the springbok, skins of various kinds of deer,
slabs of stone showing fossil fishes, photographs of
characteristic scenery, and large-sized pictures of
President Roits and his wife. The exhibit is not a
larae one but it is varied, artistically arranged, and
rel'ounds' to the credit of South Africa generally.

PORTABLE HYDRAULIC RIVETER.

UON:::>TRUCTED llY

~lE~~RS.

R. D.

\VOOD::> AND CO., PHILADELPHIA.

11oo G

the h~ad. .It will be seen (F.ig. 2) that the two hydrauhc c~lm de~s are. con_ce~tnc, the cylinder for the
plate-closmg sltde bemg ms1de. The main cylinder is
of cast steel lined with brass, and is bolted down to
the main. casting, the thrust being taken by a collar.
fhe ram lS annular, and on an extension carries the
rivetin g die. The plate-closing slide works in a brass
cylinder inside the riveting cylinder , and has its tool
mounted so as to surround the riveting die. I t is
moved back by a small auxiliary cylinder and ram,
showo in section in Fig. 2. The automatic device for
transferring the pressu re from the plate to the rivet is
fixed to the two slides. An inclined path on the main
slide lifts a roller suspended from the plate-closing
slide ; this, in turn, lifts a sliding plate connected by
a system ?f levers t o the operating ,ahes. The gear
can be adJusted so that the pressure is taken off the
plate any time up to the riveting die beiug with ! in.
of the plate. This takes the transference of pressure
out of the hands of the operat or, and insures the full
pressure conting on the rivet. There are also movable
stops on the slides to prevent them making too long a
stroke.
We also illustrate on the present page another form of
rivet er, constructed, like the one just described, by
:Messrs. R. D. \Yoods and ('o., of Philadelphia, and ex
hibited by them at the 'olumbian Ex position. Its
special feature is that it is made with parallel slidiug

Jaws.

mangers anu water troughs for the cattle, t he water

cisterns in the roof, and the pipe connections to the
troughs, which are mounted on trunnions. The
cattle can be adm itted t o the cars either through the
end or the side doors, and the stalls are arranged
transversely.
pecial attention is paid to the free
ventilation of these cars, and both sides are hinged to
the longitudinal frame, so that they can fall back as
shown in Fig. 5. \Vithiu the sides as high as the
trough, the car is framed with open timbers (see
Fig. 2 ), so that free circulation of air is secured
throughout the car. The mangers are attached to the
hinged sides as shown in Fig. 5, but the troughs are
mounterl beh,een the main posts of the frame. A front
view of the manger is given in Fig. 6. The method of
trussing the underframe is clearly shown in Fig. 4, and
Figs. 7 to 10 are details of the tru cks on which the car
is mounted. '\Ye append the specification to which
these trucks are constructed :
Spec(tications of Street's Wester n Stable Car Line. Standard
Cattle Car Body.
Capacity, 40,000 lb.
The drawings referred to in these specifiea.tions are as
follows. [Sheets 4 to 8 will be found on pages 198 and
199; the remainder have not been reproduced]:
Sheet No. 4. Body bottom locatio~ bolt holes (1 ig. 4).
Sheet No. 5. Side view " outside ' (Fig. 2).
Sheet No. G. ido view "inside" (Jf ig. 1)
Sheet To. 7. Roof locating doors (Fig. 3).
Sheet No. 8. End view, gate, hay-rack, and doors
(Figs. 5 and 6).
Sheet ~o. 9. 1\-falleable detail of body.
Sheet No. 10. Cast detall of body.
Sheet No. 1 t. Wrought detail of body.
Sheet No. 12. Detail of framing.
Sheet No. 13. Detail of framing ~d water tank.
Sheet No. 14. Detail of framing.
Sheet No. 15. Painting and lettering.

S TANDARD CATTLE CAR.

THE transport of cattle by railway over long distances has grown into an industry of stupendous proportions in the United State.s during the past few
year3.
The stockyards of Uhicago alone require
the constant service of a vast array of special
rolli11g stock, and Chicago is but one of many centres
in America to which this special traffic con,erges.
General D unenszons.
Cattle-carrying rolling stock are, on this account, Yery
conspicuous in the Transportation Exhibits Building Lengths :
From out to out of end sills ...
...
of the C:olumbian Exposition, and we illustrate on pages
Inside in clear .. .
. ..
. ..

198 and 199 one of the examples shown-the cattle car
RIVETING 1\IACIIINE.R Y.
From out to out of end po::.te ...
...
o~ page 39 of our issue of July 14, we illustu.ted a. of Street's \Vestern Stable Car Line. Figs. 1, 2, and3
, , inside to inside of end posts
70ton plate-closing fixed riveter~ and now on pag.e 202 are respectively two longitudinal sections and a plan
Distance from centre to centre of
transoms. .
..
.. .
. ..
...
we give several engravings show10g the construct1on of of the car; the former show the arrangement of the

ft.
36
36
36
36

m.

10
0

,.. ~

I f

li

26 10

E N G I N E E R I N G.

Auc. 18, 1893.]

205

heaviest class, includ.icg t he propeller shafts of several

of the United Stat-es men-of-war, h ave been turn ed out
by its aid. For a tool of this kind a. reliable founda
tion is essential, and a referen ce to Figs. 1 and 2, page
3 5i
112 ct,rde, will m ake clear the precaut1ons adopttcl tn
th is case. Prima rily the foundation is su ppo1t ed by
8 11
piles, driven a t 2 f t. 6 in. to 3ft. centres, some 35ft. to
8 10
8 4
40 ft. into the ground b elow the b ottom of the foun0 9~
dation pit. On the t op of th ese piles a t im her flooring
is laid, which is co,ered O\'er with a c ushion of wood
1 1~
shavings. On this cushion rests the first of several
1 8~
couraes of cast-iron block s, which g ive to th e fou nda2 2
tion the weight a nd inertia which are so es~enti al.
3 0
This first course coc si&ts of eight block s , and above it is
placed an elastic layer 18 in. thick, built up out of 2-in.
o a
planking faced with co rk . On t (Jp of this elastic layer
6 10
t en heavy steel bars are la.id,. which stretch right
0 8
across the foundation, and insure a fair d istribution of
8 0
2 9"'
the superincumbent load .
Above these bars is a
0 1~
second layer of pla.nking, but this time without t he
cork. On this are laid four massive cast-iron blocks,
Framing. -'l'he side, intermediate, a nd draft sills are
then a second elastic layer of plank and cork, and fr om
Norway or Southern pine, 5 in. by 8 in., sound and clear ;
this point the foundat10n is completf"d by ~ix cour ses
one corner may be sappy, but not t o exceed 1 ~ in. in
con sisting of si x cast -iron blocks each. In the four
width. The end sills art:l firat quality white oak, 6 in. by
8 in. Crossties are white oak, 4 in. by 8 in. F raming
lower cou rses these blocks weigh 70 tons each, and in
shown on drawing, Sheets Nos. 4, 12, 13, and 14.
t h e two upper ones 54 tons each . The shoes weigh
Draft T imbe1s.-There are four draft timbers, 4! in. by
60 t o os each, and the anvil die SO tons. 1 he total
8 in. by 8 ft. 10~ in long; they are gai ned out on top face
wei~ht of metal in the anvil blocks is tb ns 2150 tons.
to receive the castiron draft timber key, and on the top
The hammer is single-acting, and the com bined
and bottom for the tran som s ; there is also a. gain at
weight of piston, pis tonr ocl, a nd trip is 125 t ons. '!he
centre of spring pocket for the follower chafing iron, each
cy lincler is of somewhat curiou s conbt t u ction , being built
timber being secu red to underside of draft sill with ~ - in.
u p in three parts, of which the lower ~ eighs nearly 10
bolts. as sho wn on d rawings Nos. 4 and 12.
~
Bu.D'er Blocks.-There a re two buffer blocks, white oak,
tons, the midd le rather less, and the upper st ction
5 in. by 8 in. by 2ft. 2 in. long, gained out in centre 1 in.
7 t ons. T he diam eter is 76 m., a.nd the inside length
deep by 7 in. wide, to allow proper clearance for drawbar
nearly 20 ft.; the actual stroke of t h e hamm er is,
back atop, each block being secured t o end sill with two
however , only 16 ft. 4 in., as exhaust ports are cast in
!fin . bolts, as shown on Sheets Nos. 4 a.nd 12.
the upper r ing of the cylinder, abou t 4 ft. from its
P late8.- Wing plates are oak; it is d~sired that they
top, so that when th e pist on passes th er e t he pressure
be in one piece, but if Bpliced the lap must be made on
of th e st eam below it, is relie,ed. At the same time
one of the pos ts and well secured by screws and ~ in.
t he r emainin g portion of the cylinder above the
bolt passing through post and rail. Bide plates a re
pist on acts as a n a ir cushion, which quick ly brings
Norway or long lP.a.f Southern p ine 3 in. by 8 in. by 3? ft.
2 in. long, nailed to bottom of each side plate; cut snugly
th e flying mass to rest, in t~pit e of its ponderous
b~tween ea?h post are oa~ or Southern pine filling blocks
weigh t. The entablature supporting the cylinder
lm. by 3 m. by 2ft. 5 m. long. End plates a re white
weighs 60~ tons, and has the sttam ports cast in it. It
oak 3 in. by 13~ in. by 8 ft. 6} in. long, as sh own on S heet
reits on a p air of l egs, each built up of an upper and
No. 12.
a lower section, the form er weigh ing 4 ~~ t(Jns
Carli7!-'s.-Tbere are nine carlines 1~ in. by 9~ in. by
each, a nd the latt er 107 t ons each. To the~e legs
8 ft. 6.i m. long; each end of ca.rline is tenoned into side
a re b olted the guides, which weigh 75~ tons.
plates Eecured to plate by four g-in. rods pa.3'3ing through
The baseplates support ing the whole s tructure
car from plate to ~late.
P urlines.-Purltnes are Norway pine 1~ in. by 3~ in.
measure 10 ft. by 8 ft., and weigh 56 t ons each. The
by 18 fb. 4 in. long, securely nailed to carlines by two
steam distribution, as already explained , is effected
3-in. No. 8 barbed wire nails to each bearing, and secured
thro~gh ports cast. in the en tablatur e (see F ig. 10), and
to end plates by two 30dwt. spikes to each bearins-.
d~ta1ls of the Il?a1.n val ve are sh own in Fig. 5. Aa
~idge .Poles.-R!dge poles are Norway pine 2;1 in. by
w11l be seen, tht s IS of the balanced pis ton type and
3~ 10. by 36 H. 8 m. long, secured to each carline and
being 21 in. in d ia meter, gives a large paseage-wa'y for
end plate by two 30-dwt. spikes to each bearing.
the steam . An au x iliary cylinder is u sed to work the
Water-Tank B o.c.- W ater-tank box is located in centre
~ain valve, which is far too p on derous to be operated
of roof, as shown on drawing No. 6. Between carl ines
dtrectly by hand. This auxiliary cylinder and its
will bt:l tw.o pieces of. oak 1! in; by 8~ in. by 4 ft. 0~ in.
long ; carlm(:ls are gatnd out ~ m. deep to receive ends
:valv~ gear are shown in Fig. 6, and in further detail
secured to carlineJ by two ! m. rods p assing from on~
1n Ftgs. 7 and 8. The valve for this cylinder is also
carline to the other with n ub and washer on each end of
of the pis ton type, c.t.nd is worked from the platform
rod ; there will also be a h~ader cut between said side
shown at th e side of th e t ool, Fig. 1, through the l eYers
ends gained i in., secu red by ~ in. rod passing from one
shown in Fig. 6. As will be seen, th e hnk marked
en~ to the other ~lose .t o outside of header ; it will also be
c. is coupled to ~he piston-rod of the auxiliary cynailed through std es mto end of h eader, with foul' 3iri.
lmder, and by a lmk d to b, which op erates the valveo.
No. 8 barbed wire nails ; roof will be nailed to box aides
This arrangement is to prevent too great a. motion of
same as ~urlines ; header is gained out for rid~e pole
same cuttmg off flush with inside of box ; size of header'
th.e m.ain valve, for as the piston d~scends it carries
1! in. by 8~ in. by 1 ft. 3~ in. long.
'
wtth 1t the lever c, and thus closes its own slide valve
B races. -Body sid.e braces are. white oak, 1t in. by 5 in.;
sh utt ing off steam. S prings are fitted to the valve rod
end braces are whtte oak, 3 m . by 4 in. ; all out and
as shown to pre vent ehocks. This val ve gear has
framed, same as shown on Sheets Nos. 12 and 14.
proved very satisfactory, the h a mmer being under full
B ody Post~.-Body posts are white oak, 3 in. by 5 in.
control at all times.

by 6 ft. 10~ m. long, t enoned t o side plates on top end

Details of the pittton a r e shown in Fig. 4, and, as will
and framed into post castin~s on bottom, each p ost
be seen from th a t engraving, the clearance at the
grooved out on edge to recetve the ft in. plate and sill
rod, as shown on Sheet No. 13.
bot.tom of the cylinder is re~ uced by packing pieces,
E nd Posts.-End posts are white oak 3 in. by 4 in. by
whtch ar~ shape~ as .shown m Fig. 3, leaving a clear
6 ft. l Oft in. long, t enoned in end plates on t op end and
port .o p emng. 'Ihe pts~on ~ is fastened t o its rod by
framed into post casting on bottom, grooved out on' edge
a s~h t .nut C, over wh1ch Is sh r unk a st eel ring D,
to rec~i ve the plate and sill rods as shown on S heet
wh1c~ 1s ~revented from turning by the p eg E. The
No. 12.
packmg rmgs B a re of steel. In Figs. ll to 16 o.re
K ing Posts. - King posts are white oak 3 in. by 7 in. by
shown details of the hamn.er h ead and of the m eans
2 ft. long, framed on bottom to fit post casting ; it will be
adopted for securely attaching it t o its rod. The
counter-bored on bottom end t o cover bolt bead that
upper cast -iron portion of the trip is secur ed to the
pass~s through casting and transom ; the top end will be
l ower steel pa rt by shrinking rings round semicircular
left square for trussrod bearing, truss-rod passing over
top of king post and through sills.
~ugs cast on each , as indicated in F ig. 11. The hammer
Wing Pos~s.-\V!ng posts are white oak, 2i in. by 4 in.
1s secure.d at any d~sired h eight by means of a series of
by 7ft. lli m., gam ed out on t op t o recei ve wing plate,
n?tches 1n the gutd es, and in the trip bead lockingbored, fra~ed, and sbaP.ed on .bottom, and t o fit wingpteces worked by a lever from the attendant's platpoc~~t castmg; th ey will b~ gamed ou t on each edge in
form engage w ith the~e notches a nd support the
postti,OJ? as ;5hown on drawmg Sheet No. 14, i in. deep
hamm er.
and 1i m. ~1de, and full depth of post to receive ends of
On one leg .o f the hammer the hydraulic ram which
hay rack stlls.
works the kn1fe used for trimming arm our pl ~tes is
Flooring. -Flo~ri ng is Norway p ine, 1~ in. by 8 in. by
moun~ed. The tota! height of the tool from gro~nd
9ft.. lol:!g, exceptii:!g th~ door~ays, wh ere it is 3~ m. longer,
proJectn~g over stde _sills 4 1n. a.t doorways and ~ in. at
level 1s ~0 ft., and 1ts extreme width is 38 ft. The
other pomts ; all fioort.ng, excep ln;tg the doorways, will be 125 TON HAMMER, BETHLEHEM IRON accessones t o the hammer include two large h eating
bevelled .sam~ as drawmg; each 8-m. board will be secured
furnaces a.nd two 150-ton overhead travelling cranes.
OOMPANY,
PENNSYLVANIA.
to ea.oh s11l w1th two 30dwt. spikes all flooring will be
THE engravings which we publish this week (see p age
surfaced on bottom side, top side left rough edges to be
squared for butting joint.
'
203) complete our illustrations of the 125-ton steam
C~MENT CoNc~ETE ; ERRATUM. -On page 185 of our
Door FL?o?-~ Support.-:- There will be a floor support ham me~ of the Bethlehem Iron Company. The tool
under proJ~tton of each stde door 2~ in. by ~ in. by 4 ft. was destgned by Mr. John Fritz, one of the most noted last 1~sue we ~~bhshed a letter on cement concrete ove1
long, of wh1te oak, secured ~o side sill by three ~-in. bolts of American metallurgical engineer s, and ha.e now ~pe Signature
J a~es Munro. , This should ha.ve been
pass1ng through support; 1-m. strap washer and sill ; the been a.t work some y ears, during which forgings of the
G. James M orr1son, the oh angebeingdue toa.print~t,i
error.
Distance from centre to centre of
n eedle beams ...
...
...
. ..
Distance between side door posts ...
,
.,
body posts . ..
. ..
\ Vidths:
]f rom out to out of end sills . . .
...
,
.,
sideposts...
. ..
Between aide posts
...
. ..
. ..
,
centre stringers
.. .
...
,
,
and
intermediate
atrin gera .. .
.. .
. ..
...
. ..
Between intermediate and side sill ...
,
end door posts
...
. ..
,
centres of rock shafts
. ..
H eights:
Sills . .
...
...
...
. ..
. ..
B etween sill and plate .. .
...
. ..
Side plate~. ..
. ..
.. .
. ..
. ..
From t op of sill to top of ridge pole .. .
,
,
,
belt rail .. .
:F rom roof to centre of rook shaft .. .

ft. in.
7 0
4 0

i-in. washer will be between support and side sill, to allow

an a1r passage.
Shearhinv. -Sheathing on wing sides to be "C-strips"
white pine, kiln-dried, matched, grooved, and beaded ;
must be free from win g and rotten knots and sap ; is Z in.
by 5i in., with i.-in. bead, with centre bead, and secured
to wmg posts by three 2-in. No. 8 barbed wire nails in
each bearing; the end sheathing is select Norway fenci ng
milled as abc,v~, secured to inside face of inside end posts
with three 2-in. No. 8 barbed wire nails in each bearmg.
Slattinv.- The inside slatting is of select Nor way fencing, i in. by 5~ in ., dressed on four sides, and secured to
posts and braces with t hree 2in . No. 8 barbed wire nails
m each bearing, the end at door-post being rounded to
prevent cattle from getting injured.
Roojing. - Roofing t o be of .B a nd better or No. 2 white
pine, kiln dried, and must be free from sap and knots; is
l in. by 5~ in., dres~ed both sides, edges for butting joints;
the edfes of both courses must be painted with a heavy
coat o mi neral before laying ; the top of bottom course
and bottom of t op course must be painted in the same
manner. Bottom course must be secured to ridge- pole
purlines and side plates with two 2in. No. 8 barbed wire
nails in each board on each bearing. R oof must project
1 in. over wing or false side in order t hat water will drip
clear of same; it must also ~roject 1 in. over end fascia.
Side Fascia.-Side fascia. Is in. by 2i in. wide, secured
t o side plate, with a full complement of 2 in. No. 8 barbed
wire nails, top edge comin~ tight to bottom of roof.
End Fascia. - End fas01a is! in. by 5~ in. white pine
nailed to end plate, same pi t ch, and tigh t to roof.
R unning B oards.- Runn ing boardR must be clear pine
and free from knots ; centre board is white pine 2 in. by
6 in., shaped to fit over r idge of roof, it is cut over cleats
and secured to roof with 3-in. No. 18 screws; the two
outside boards are 1 in. by 6 in . pine and nai l ~d to cleats
with 2-in. No. 8 barbed wire nails ; th e cleats are white
oak 1~ in. by 2~ in. by 20 in. long, placed near enoue-h
together t o prevent running boards from springing under
weight of train men ; they are nailed to r1dge with 3-in .
No. 8 barbed wire nai ls, each ou tside end to be secured
to roof with 2 ~ in. No. 16 scre ws.
Girths and jjelt Rail8. -Side girth s are white oak 11 in.
by 8t in., two pieces 19 ft. 9~ in., and two pieces 12ft.
long ; th ey are rounded on t op edge a nd gamed out full
width i in. deep t o fit snugly to each body post and
brace ; they are also secured to each post by two ~ in.
bolts through each post. End girths are white oak H in.
by 6 in. by 8 ft. 8 in. long, gained out same as side girth~,
and secured to end posts and braces by one ~ - in. bolt
passing th rough each post and girth.
Side Doors.-Side doors are of the Alsop and :F iscber
patent, each door being in two sections ; lo\\ er sect ion is
of white oak, and ser ves as a bridge between car and pla tform ; slats are gained out on outside full depth of stiles,
which a re 1 in. by 5~ in. by 22 in. inside, to have three
oak cleats 1t in. by 1! in. by 4 ft. long for foot -holds; all
bolting, framing, and trimming shown on drawings,
Sheet N o. 8.
U pper section of door is composed of two white oak
stiles 1i in. by 5~ in. by 4 ft. 11 in. long, and three white
oak rail~, bottom rail1 =1 in. by 8 in. by 3 ft. G in., centre
r~il H in. by 4 . in. by ~ f t: 6 in., and t op rail 1:f in. by
G tn. by 3 ft. 6 tn. long ; rads are tenoned mto s tiles, and
secured with ~-in. joi nt bolts; stiles are rabbeted on
inside ~ in. d eep an~ 1~ in: wide, to receive the p an f:ll of
sheathmg, same hems- natled Wlth 4-dwt. wrou~ht nails
there are also eight g. m. rods, bored 1 in. deep m centr~
and. bottom rails all as shown OJ? dra wings, Sheet No. 8.
Stde D oor Har~uers. -Upper side door hangers art:l i in.
by 2 in. wrought iron, formed and drilled sam~ as sho wn
on S heet No. 11, and secured t o door by two~ in. by 2i in.
bolts ; .when shut it is sec.ured by hasp, eye-bolt, and
door-pm, as shown on drawmgd, Sheet No. 9.
B ott,,m Side- Door H lmges.-Bottom side-door hinges a re
wrou~ht iron, i in. by 2 in., each secured to door by four
~-in. bolts, bottom turned to an eye, and secured to car
bv 1-i n. rod, passing through eye, and fou r brackets
No. 0. 95, secured t o side sill by two ftin. bolts in each
bracket. Wh en. door is s.hut it is fastened by two hasps,
eye-bolts, and pins ; slot m lower door hasp must be large
enough to allow for motion in throwing out th e side of
car.
E ncl DI')Or3.-End door stiles and rails are white oak
rails are tenoned into stiles and se<.'ured by iin. joint
bo.lts. The~e a~e eight g-in. rods passin~ throu~h CE:lntre
r~tl and . 1~ ID. t;tto bottom and t op ratls; door is pro
v1ded wtth cast-Iron shoe8, same being secu red to door by
three gin. bolts in each shoe.
J!?nd Door H_angers.-End door bangers are .g. in. by
1~ m. wrought 1ron, secured to end door by two i -in. bolts
to each banger.
. End Door Tracks. - Lower track is i in. by 2 in. wrought
Ir~n, secured t~ posts, thresholds, and filling blocks by
i m. bolts pa;ssmg th.ro~gh track and brackets1 with nut
UJ?der Rheath1I?g on m s1de of car. T op track 1s j in. by
2 m. wrought 1ron, secu~ed to end plat e, posts and braces,
and header by five ~-m. bolts to 6ach track, passing
through track and brackets; the three centre bolts a re
countersunk.
(To be continued.)

a.

ENGINEERING,

AuGUST

18, 1893.

'--------------------------------------------------------~

NEW

TRIPLE - EXPANS IO N

ENGI NES

oF
1

THE

PACIFIC

STEAMER

"IBERIA."

'

CONSTRUCTED BY MESSRS.

DAVID ROL LO AND SONS, ENGINEERS,

LIVERPOOL.

(For Descriptiot, ~et PWJt 206.)

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DAVID ROLLO AND SONS, ENGINEERS, LIVERPOOL.

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tank s are all placed neatly in the passage through

t.he bunker between engine a nd boiler-rooms, which
form a very compact little machinery space, while it
gives plenty of room for overhauling.
The main boilers, which are fully up t o the Board of
Trade requirements for a working pressure of 180 lb.,
are four in number, and are built of steel ma nufactured by t he Steel Comp any of Scotland. The boilers
are 14 ft. 6 in. in dia.m eter by 17 ft. long, doubleended, ha ving twenty -four Foxe's patent corrugated
furnaces. The whole of the floors, frames, and reverse
bars were gut ted out of the boiler space, and a doublebottom ballast tank for fresh water, built in four compartments, having a bilge well at each end. Each
compartment is fitted with the usual sounding, filling,
a ir, and signa l pipes. The fire p umps, which ar e very
powerful, are from Messrs. Rollo's own patterns ; the
pumps and chests are of gun-metal.
The vessels are of t he following dimensions : 433; ft.
by 45ft. by 35 ft. hold, and 4661 gross tonnage, and the
Iberia on her trial last December ran a distance of 100
knots full p ower, making a. speed of 16 knots per hour,
the engines running 72 re,rolutions and 4500 indicated
horse-power with very easy steaming.

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prices are low~r. This is due to the anxiety of some

manufacturers to secure large orders for autumn work.
F a ilures are frequen t and apprehension is general ;
and as an attack upon the tariff is anticipated in the
present session of Congress, manufacturers are disinclined to take any risk s, and are working only according to orders received. There is a. spirit of unrest
throughout the country, and until it disappears, it will
be impossible t o report a. normal volume of business.
The steel railmakers a re doing very -litt le. The structura l mills have booked no orders for some time past,
excepting for small lots. The bar iron mills are slowly
resuming. Blast-furnace output is restricted to a ctual
requirements.

NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE

NORTHERN COUNTIES.

W ednesday.
The Clewland Iron Trade.-Yesterday the attendance
on ,Change here was very small, and little business was
transacted, but sellers were firm in their quotations, and
did not press business. Owing to the local race meeting
this week, a. large number of works are closed, and several
employers have taken the opportunity to go out of town
for a. few days. U nfortunately the closing of the manufactured iron works will cause the already heavy stocks
NOTES FROM THE UNITED STATES.
of forge pig to increase. They have for some time past
PHti .ADBLPmA, August 8.
been a drug upon the market, and as shipments k eep
THE situation throughou t the S tates in regard to iron poor, and the local consumption this week practically n-il,
and steel is not improving, and in some departments they are likely to become increasingly so. YesterMlDDLESBBOUGB,

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day few sellers would listen to less than 35s. 3d.

for prompt f. o.b. delivery of No. 3 g. m. b. Cleveland pig
iron, and one or two transa{}tions occurred at that figure,
but buyerR endea voured to purchase at a t rifle less. No. 4
foundry was quoted 33s. 6d. to 33s. 9d. Grey forge wa-s
weak, and m1ght h ave been obtained at 32s. 3d., but
most sellers asked 32s. 6d . A fair account was gi.ven of
the hematite pig iron trade, in spite of the slacker
demand from Sheffield, caused by consumers there experiencing difficulty in obtaining fuel. Shipments of local
hema.tite were reported pretty good, and 43'3. 6d. was
still quoted for early delivery of mixed numbers. Middlesbrough warrants closed 34s. lld. ca-sh buyers. To-day
t he market was quiet, and t he only change was in
Middlesbrough warrants, which, after t ouching 35s.,
closed weak at 34s. lO~d . cash buyers.
Manufactured. Iron a.l'ld SteeZ.- There is really nothing
new t o report of the manufactured iron and steel trades.
This week business is practically a.t a standstill, and
<J.UOtations are very much the same as those last mentiOned. Some firms would probably accept rather less
than the market rates for a good order. Common iron
ba~s are 4l. 17s. 6d. ? iron ship-plates, 4Z. 12s. 6d. ; iron
sht p angles, 4l. 12s. 6d. ; steel sh1 p-plates, 5l. to 5Z. 2s. 6d.;
and steel ship angles, 4l. 15s., all less the usual 2~ per
cent. discount for cash. The steel rail trade keeps pretty
steady, and 3l. 17s. 6d. net a.t works is generally asked for
heavy sections, but it is said that contracts have recently
been entered into at 3l. los.
'l.'he Fuel Tradc.-The fuel trade continues firm, with a
fuller demand, and prices for such uncontraoted lots as
are available are very stiff; whilst merchants who have

supplies arranged on old contracts press for delivery.

For this season of the year the production of coal is very
large, and it is readily taken up, though most of the
steam coal is being delivered on old contracts at about
4s. less than is asked in the market for surplus over the
contracts. At N ewcastle 12s. per ton f.o.b. is generally
quoted for best N orthumbrian steam coal. Prices of gas
coal vary a good deal. It is said that a pretty large sale
of locomotive coal has been made ab an advanced price by
a West Durham colliery to one of the companies whose
supply has been interfered with by the strike. Coke
sellers are very firm in their quotations. F or delivery to
the Midlands high rates are asked, but prices vary a good
deal, and it is almost impossible to fix the fig ure. Average
blast furnace qualities delivered here a.re fully 13s. per
ton.

NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE.

Wednesday.
T he Miners' Struggle-Important Mo-vcment.- In this
district there are many colliery proprietors who are
willing to pay the full rate of wages, but the men have
left work in accordance with their fedtration resolution.
An important circular was issued last night by thA Yorkshire Miners' Association to the members. They are
requested to consider and vote on the question, " Shall
the men who have the opportunity of returning to work
at the present rate of wages be allowed to do so; or shall
the whole body continue to stand out as they are doing
at present ?" The votes a. re to be returned for the consideration of the council at a. special meeting on Saturday. The decision will guide the delegates at the meetlSHEFFIELD,

t-.)

'l

E N G I N E E R I N G.

208
ing of the executive of the Miners' Federation in London
on Tuesday. The amount paid last week in strike pay
by t he York~hire Miners' Association was 22,500l. This
week the amount required will be nearer 30,000l. than
25,000l. At the commencement of the strike the amount
in hand was 169,000l., so that the accumulated fund was
equal to five weeks' full strike allowance.

Samuel Fax ani Co., .Limited.- The twenty-third a.nnna.l

meeting of this company has been held in Sheffield under
the presidency of Mr. \V. H . Fox. The chairman said
t hat during the past twelve years the company had been
able to declare dividends of 15 per cent. per annum, but
last year the state of the steel trade-indeed, he might
sa.y of all trades-had been such that t o sell goods at all
bad been difficult, but to sell them at a profit more diffi.
cult still. The bad times which railways had been having
had no doubt caused them to withhold orders to a. Yery
considerable extent during the past year, and in the competition for such as ha.d been given out, manufacturers
had been compelled to acoepb very low, if not unremunerative, prices. With the &Id of the balance brought forward from last year, the directors might on this occasion
have recommended the dividend of late years, but as the
future could not be foreseen, they thought it better to
retain a good sum in hand. A dividend at the rate of
12! per cent. was declared.
Hull and Barnsley Railw ay.-The half-yearly meeting
of thi s company has been held at llull. Colonel Smith,
the chairman, said that the actual loss on the half-year's
working bad been 15,722l. There was a decreased tonnage at the Alexandra Dock of 118,896 tons, of which
vessels coming for coal were responsible for 84,530 tons.
The coa.l shipped by the railway showed a d ecrease of
142,968 tons. He regard ed the abso~ption of the Hull
Dock Company by the North-Eastern Railway Company
favourably, taking into account the arrangement his company bad made with the North-Eastern as to rates and
dock accommodation. Let no one be afraid that the
company was going back to the old poeition, when debts
were piled against them by thousands a year. They were
by no means in a bad position . When the circumstances
which had caused the temporary depression bad passed
away, they would be able to do as they had done, and, h~
hoped, pay a. dividend at no distant date.
Sou~h Yorkshire Coal Trade.-Tbe return showing the
quanttty of coal taken to Hull from the South Yorkshire
collieries during the month of July has just been issued.
There were 183,864 tons, as against 210,208 tons in July
last year. From January to July of this year the imports
amounted to 923,240 tons. When compared with the cor responding period of last year, these figures show the
alarming reduction of 400,000 tons, the imports then
amounting to 1,306,920 tons.
HMdy Patent Pick Company, Limited.-The annual
report of this company was issued to-day. It states that
the net profit for the year was 5582l., and the amount
b~ought forward from last year was 3572l. 17s. The
dtr~ctors propose to pay a dividend of 5 per cent. on the
?rdn~ary .s~ares, less interim dividend, whiob, with the
mtertm dt vtdend on the preference shares will absorb
4428!. ; to provision for depreciation of works, plant, and
patent, 2000t., and to carry forward 2727l.

NOTES F ROM TH E NORTH.

GLASGOW, Wednesday.
Glaag()U) Pig-I ron Marktt.-A firm tone ruled in the
warrant market last Thursday forenoon. Between 6000
and 7000 tGns of Scotch iron were sold-1000 tons at
42s. 4!d. and 1500 tons at 42~. 5d. per ton cash ; 2000 tons
at 42s. 7d. and 42s. 8d. one month; and 2000 tons at
42s. 8!d. one n;tontb, with l s. forfeit in buyers' option.
Of Cleveland tron, 1000 tons were sold-500 tons at
353. 6d. per ton cash, and 500 tons at 35s. 8d. one month
with ls. forfeit in buyers' option. The market opened
steady in the afternoon, 42s. 4! d. and 42s. 5d. being
done for Scotch iron. The business done amounted
to between 6000 and 7000 tons-1500 tons at 44s. 4!d. per
ton cash, 2500 tons at 44s. 5d. cash, 500 tons at 423. 7d.
one month, 500 tons at 42s. 7!d. one month, and 1000
tons at 42s. 8d. per ton one month. The closing settlement prices were-Scotch iron, 42s. 4~d . p er ton; Cleve
l~nd, 35s. 6?. ; Cumberland and Middlesbrough hemattte, respecttv~ly, 4.5s. 3d. and 43s. 4~d. per ton. Business was acttve 1n the warrant market on Friday
forenoon, and from 10,000 to 15,000 tons were dealt in
all, except 2000 tons of Cleveland, being s~otch iron:
T~e bulk . C?f the Scotch was sold for cash, the
p~1ce dechmng to 423. 3d. per ton; 3000 tons were
dtsp'?se.d of at, 42". 8d. per ton one month, with ls.
forfett m buyera opt10n. The market was stearlier in the
afterno~>n at about 42s. 3~d. per too cash for Scotch iron.
A constderable amount of business was again done about
10,0~0 .tons of S~otoh being dealt in out and out, ~nd at
the 01.s~ the pnce was 1d. p er ton up from the morning.
In addtt10n, about 3000 ~ons change? ~ands at 42s. 3id .
per .ton one month, wtth 1s. forfett tn sellers' option.
Busmess was also done at 423. 3d. this week with a
"pla~t." A f~w lots of Cleveland iron chang~d bands
at prtces ran~mg down to 35s. 3d. per ton cash and
35s. 5d. ~nd 35s. 6d. one month. At the close the ;ettle
ment prtces were-Scotch iron, 42s. 3d. per ton ; Cleve~a.nd, 353. 3d. ; Cumberla.nd and Middlesbrough hematite
Jron, 453. 3d . and 43s. 4!d. per ton respectively. Friday's
market was to some extent affected by an announcement that was made in the course of the day to the effect
that Messrs. ~erry and Cuninghame had resolved to
damp down tbetr C"'rnbrae furnaces, and that the Glengaroock. Iron and Steel C~mpany were about to do the
Saf!le wtth two of their Ardeer furnaces . There was a
quteb ton9 on the opening of the market on Monday.

[AuG. 18, I 893.

Scotch iron declined in price 1d. :per ton in the forenoon, preservation. I .may say that in m~ e-xpe~ience I haTe
and ~d. further in the afternoon, and Cleveland and examined a. cons1dera.ble number of tron brtdges, and o~e
Cumberland hematite ir~n also declined in price. I examined was up for fifty years, and th.e parts of Jb
respectively, 1~d. and 1d. per ton. The closing settle- which were properly looked after were practJCally as good
ment prices were- S cotch iron, 42s. 1~d. per ton; as on the day they left th~ works. So.me th~ee months
Cleveland, 35~. 1~d.; Cumberland and Middlesbrough ago I examined another br1dge over a. r~ver; 1t bad been
hematite iron, respec~ively, 45s. 1! d. and 43s. 4 ~d. per up thirty years, and bad n ot been pamted for fifteen
ton. The market was quiet on Tuesday forenoon, and years but there was very little corrosion, the parts thab
thore were between 10,000 and 15,000 tons of Scotch iron were 'rusted were parts where drips of water had falJen
sold at declining pric~s. At the last, Scotch was offered and had not been properly attended to. 'fhen, again, I
at 4ls. lltd. per ton cash. In the afternoon the market examined another a few weeks ago whiCh has been
wa, still easier, Scotch being quoted down t o 4ls. 10d. up thirty eight years, and every part o~ that bridge is
per ton cash. Only about 3000 tons were dealt in. Cleve- practically as good as on the day 1t was put 11p.
land was quoted 1d. down at 3~s. per ton ~ellers. The A few years ago I bought the material of the
settlement prices at the close were-Scotch iron, 4ls. 10!'J. old Hammersmith Bridge, L ondon for the purpose
per ton; Cleveland, 35s.; Cumberland and l\Iiddles- of using it as temporary plant in tbe erection of the
brough hematite iron, respectively, 45s. 1 ~d. and 43s. 4!d. Forth Bridge. It had been up for sixty-two years, and a
per ton. It was reported that other two furnaces had great many of the parts had not been painted since its
been damped down, leaving the number still in blast at erection, as it was impossible to get at them; yet these
59, as compared with 76 at this time last year. There parts were in a good state of preservation-in fact, quite
are 120 blast furnaces built in Scotland, and conse- a-s good as when they left the works. I took some of the
quently there are 61 out of blast. The marke t was material with which it had been painted to ascertain the
inactive and very flat t o-day. Scotch iron was again reason for the good state of preservation it was in, and
pressed for sale, and between 12,000 and 15,000 tons were the result of the a nalysis was that the material with which
disposed of. At 4ls. 10d. the cash price lost ~d. per t on. it had been painted was genuine white lead. You can
In the afternoon the market was quiet, 4ls. 9~d. cash on see from these samples that an iron bridge, properly taken
J'riday being done for Scotch iron. Towards the close, care of by those responsible for it, will last practically for
however, there was a ralJy to 41s. lld. cash, but the any length of time. The Bonar .Bridge, which we have
market closed with sellers at that price. About 10,000 just replaced, was carried away by the strong floods ; ib
tons of Scotch iron w~re d ealt in, including 4000 tons at bad been up for eighty years. The iron pa-rt of the
41s. 1l~d. a month, with 1s. forfeit in sellers' option. bridge, which was 150 ft. span, wa.s p erfectly good, but
'Vhile no business was done, Cleveland and hem atite the masonry piers got scoured out and washed away,
irons were quoted easier, Cleveland droppi ng l ~cl. thereforE\ the uon work fell into the bed of the ri\er and
per ton, Cumberland hematite iron 3d., and Middles wa<J destroyed."
brough 6d. per ton. To- day'13 closing settlement
prices were-Scotch iron, 41s. 10!d. per ton; CleveNOTES FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.
land, 34s. 10~d. ; Cumberland and Middlesborough
hematite iron, 44s. 10i d. and 42s. 10id. per ton respec
GlouclStl?' Railway Carriage and Wagon Com.pany,
tively. Some changes have taken place during the past Limited.-The directors report th:1.t the company has had
week in the quotations for special brands of No. 1 makers' to bear its share of the universal depression in trade,
iron, but the following are about the rates for several of which is still affecting railway enterprise and the de
them : Calder, 48s. 6d. per ton; Summerlee and Gart- mand for rolling stock. After the usual appropriations
sherrie, 493. ; Coltness, 53~. ; Langloan, 54s.-the fore- for depreciation of buildings, machinery, and wagons,
going all shipped at Glasgow; Glengarnock (shipped at there is a disposable balance of 14,6:-$0l., of which 10,014l.
Ardrossan), 48s. ; Sbotts (shipped at Leith), 5l s.; Carron was devoted in March to the p ayment of an interim
(~hipped at G rangememouth), 52s. 6d. per ton. Last week's di vidend at the rate of 2! per cent. p er annum. .As
shipments of pig iron from all Scotch ports amounted regards the surplus still remaining, an addit ion of 3000!.
to 5576 tons, as compared with 5545 tons in the corre- is made to the reserve fund and 1616l. is carried forward.
~ponding week of last year. They included 100 tons for The wagon stock belonging to the company now consists
Canada, 110 tons for South America, 285 tons for India, of 5244 wagons let on simple hire. The company now
200 tons for Australia., 1730 tons for Italy, 470 tons for repairs and maintains 16,287 wagons, 9007 of wbiob are
Germany, 450 tC?ns for H olland, 136 tons for Belgium, not its property.
112 tons for Spa.tn and Portugal, smaller quantities for
Bristol T 1am:ways.-Mr. Butler, in moving the adopother countries, and l 678 tons coastwise. The stock of
pig iron in Messrs. Connal and Co. 's public warrant tion of the directors' report at the half-yearly meeting
stores stood at 337,85~ tons, against 336,372 t ons yester- of the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company, L imiteci,
day week, thus showmg for the past week an increase said the gross receipts for the past six months were
42,199l., against 38,127l., giving an increase of 40721., which
amounting t o 148S t ons.
was largely due to the working of new lines and also
F inished Iron and Steel T1ade.-T hese branches of additional cars. The extra profit whi<:h had k.een made
trade continue to improve. Makers of finished iron report was required for the payment of dividend, at the usual
plenty of fresh work; but, unfortunately, along with this rate, on the additional capital wbi ch had been raised
activity there has come a scarcity and dearness of fuel so since last year. The di vidend d eclared was at the rate
that much inconvenience is bein~ caused . At a meeting of 6 per cent. per annum clear of income tax.
of the makers of malleable Iron, held in Glasgow
The Severn.-On Friday the annual inspection of the
yesterday, it was resol ved to advance prices 5s. per
~on, owing to the advance in the price of fuel. There Severn Navigation Works from Stourport to Gloucester
ts a very general demand for all kinds of bars which is so took place. The inspection was made from the steamer
great. that it cannot be forthwith supplied.' A special ~indsor Castle, and on the way to vVorcester the locks ab
meett~g o.f the shee~makera was held on Friday afternoon, Lmcombe H~l~ and Bevere, which are comprised in thEI
at whtcb 1t was ~ectd...ed to advance. the price 2s. 6d. per scb~me for the tmprovement of the river navigation, " ere
ton all round- vtz. : f l. 7s. 6d. for tron singles ; doubles, nottced . At Woroester, the d ock at Diglis which is now
8l. ; and lattens, 8l. 17s. 6d.; steel, 7l. 17s. 6d. , 9l. 5s., approaching completion, was also inspected.
an~ 10l. 12s. ~d. This ad.vance is absolutely necessary . Comtb?ia_n liailway.-The fifty-ninth half-yearly meet
owmg to the mcreased prtce of fuel, and it is expected mg. of thts company was held on Thursday in London
tha~ an~tber advance will shortly take pla.ce if coals go Mr Buckley in tbe chair. The cbairman ~tated that tb&
~pm prtce a~ they are doing. 1.' be association is to meet n et reve!lue of the company had increased in the first half
1n a we~k's ttme to consider the question again. Orders of 1893 ~o the e:ctent of 2296l., as compared with the corare commg more freely on account of the coal trouble in respondmg p~nod of 1892. A considerable saving had
the south. Tube~akers are also getting very busy, and been effected m fuel, there had alao been some decrease in
although there 1s now no association individual the cost of repairs to wagons, but until the directors
makers are endeavourin~ to get the prices up. The st eel- could get in terl~king "'?rk nompleted they could not
makers are extending their output, and bave the prospect hope ~o stop the m crease 1n the traffic expenses, particuof .stea?y .employm~nt for so!De ~ime to. come, chiefly on larly m wages. After. a lengthen ed correspondence with
shtp~mtldmg f:Datertal, of wbtch tncreastng quantities are
the. Board of Tr~de wtth regard to the running of mixed
requtred. Prtces of steel are on the basis of 5l. 5s. to trams,
an extenston of time had been granted to March
5l. 7s. 6d. per ton for ship plates.
31, 1894.
New 8_hipbuilding Ordcrs.- Messrs. Andrew 'Veir and
The "Bonaventure. "-The Bona venture cruiser will
Co. , shtpownerP, Glasgow, have just contracted with
M~~srs. R~ssell and Co., P ort-Glasgow, to construct two commenc~ her steam trials on ~1onday. Abasin t;ial of
satltne- shtps, each of 2800 tons dead weight carrying the mach m ery of the Bonaventure will be canied out at
ca.pactt~ ; and th~y have ordered another of 3200 tons Keyham; and a~ter this the ~hip will go out into the
deadwetght cap1c1ty from Messrs. Mackie and Thomson Channel for an etght' hours' trtal with natural dra.ugbtl
G<;>van. The Urangemouth Dockyard. Company have re~ and a. four hours' t~ia.l wit,P forced draught. ?\1essrs.
cetved an order from Messrs. Rabicen and Sta.dtlander Hawthor? and L eshe, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, supplild
of Bremerhaven, to build for them a steel steame~ the machtnery of the Bona venture.
of.1700 tons for th~ir Baltic trade. She is to be fitted
Portsmouth pocks.-The two new proposed d ocks at
wtth all ~he latest Improvements. The machinery will Portsmou~h w1ll each be600 ft. in length, and not 500ft.,
be supplted by M eossrs. Hutson and Son Kelvin- a.s stat~d m some quarters. The estimated cost of the
haugh, Glasgow. It is said that there is ~ contraot do.cks 1s 310,000l. At present only a. small proportion of
shortly to ~e settled for the supply of six steamers of thts sum has be~n voted by the House of Commons.
the type suttable for the Amazon River service. It is
P embroke.- Tbe repai rs of the Narcissus have been succonfidently expflcted that the order will be placed in
Greenock, where such steamers have already been built cessfully compl~ted. ~new ~iston which had to be fitted
has worked sattsfa?tor1ly . . 'I be H azard is expect ed to be
for the firm which is now in the market.
launched from th1s yard m F ebruary 1894 . she is to
On the ' ' L ife" of Iron Bridges.-The following letter steam 22 knots per hour.
'
'
ha~ latAly be.en add!esse~ .to a member of the Glasgow
Card1:U:-Holders of steam coal haYe been demanding
Town Counctl by Str Wtlham Arrol : "I am in receipt
of yours of t~e 4th inst., and in reply have to say that if as much as .24s. to 26_s. per ton. Patent fuel has been
~be con.vene~ 1s under the impression that the life of an quoted nommally at 1 1~. to 17s. 6d. p~r ton.
uon .bndge ts. only forty years, he is under a mistake, as
J?efences of. the Severn.-On Friday a. deputation from
the hfe of an 1ron b!idge dep 3nds entirely on bow it is
kept and the mater1a.l with which it is painted for its BCnstol, Card1ff, Swansea, &c., had an interview with ~Ir
ampbell-Bannerman) Secretary of State for War, fo~

=======

AuG. r8, 1893.]

209

EN G I N E ER I N G.

the purpose of urging that the Severn and the coal ports ( n umber of fleet st~ff and chief engineers. from 250 to 2~0, 1.4 quick-fir ing, and s ix 1.4 Hotchki~s guns, with; six torof outh \Vales should b e more f'ffectively protected. a.t the same reducmg the n umber of engmeers and assts pedo ejectors. S h e was launched .wt~h b~r ma.chmery on
~1r. Ca.mpbell-Ba.nnerman stated that the matter bad bn~ engin eer s ~rom 487. t o 45~. The total number of board, and s he will be ready for tnal1n November.
already received the attention of representatives of the eng~e-room ~rttf1ce~s w11l rema.t~ unalte~ed, bu~ the pro
Th e German Emper or's n ew yacht H oh en zollern, wh_ich
naval and m il itar y departments.
portiOn of cht ef engmeroom artificer s wtll be m creas.ed

h
t o a quarter of the total number. The n umber of cbtef has lately lain off Cowefl, only completed h er s team tr1als
.
. A P ler fo? J!arry.-A firm m the ~!tdlands as pro- stok ers is also to be incr eased, a nd a n ew second-class a week or so bPfore she came t o England. The r esults
Jected a. n ew pter off Ba.rry I sland.
petty officer rating-viz., leading stoker of the sec~nd have just been published. \Vithout employing forced
T aff Valt and Rhymney R1.ilways.-At the half-yearly o'ass, will be established. T o qualify as chief engme draught she d eveloped 9460 instead of the anticipated
meetings of these companies it was intimated that ter ms room artificer, a service of at least eight years is requir~d, 9000 ho~se-power, and attained a speed of ver y n early
were in oour se of n egotiation for the amalgamation of the five of which must have been spent in actual ser nce 22 instead of a little over 21 knots. D uring 24 h our s' contwo undertakings. The t erms of amalgamation were, afloat, and an examination will hMe to be pa~sed. ]for tinuous steaming her m ean speed was 19 5 knots.
h owever, not communicatsd t o either meeting.
the r ating of chief stoker, a. man must be a lead mg
There was successfully launch ed from th e wes t
stoker, first class of t en years' ser vice, and a s toker
mechanic and a qualifying examination must be p1ssed. yard of the firm of Messr s. C. S. S wan a nd
MISCELLANEA.
The pay will b e 3s. a. day, rising triennially by 6d. a d ay Hunter, sh ipbuilders, Wallsend, a handsome screw
T HE Ska.r p owder manufactory in Norway, b elonging to a. maximum of 5s. a. day.
s teamer measuring 325 ft. in length, 41ft. in bread!b,
to the State, has suC<'eeded in manufacturing a gunpowder
with a. moulded depth of 2G ft. 10 in. The vessel, whteb
Some important brid ges have been built in Germany has been b uilt under special survey, and will be r E-gistered
for large guns wh ich has proved su perior to the prismatic
powder man u factured a t the Krupp \ Vorks at D tineberg. during the last two or three y ea.rR with Portland cement in the highest class at Lloyd's, has been built to th e ord er
con crete. The b o1de$t of thes~ is, perh aps. the road of 1\!essrs. Ernes t Big1and and Co., L ond on. She has
~1essrs. Crosby L ock wood and Son will sh ortly publish bridge over the Erbacb, at Wurttemberg. Th e span in
' ' T he Miners' Handb1ok," compiled by ProfesEor Milne, this case is 105 ft. and the rise 13 ft. 1 in. To avoid the been constructd on the spar d eck t ype, with long poop,
l!'. R.S., of the Imperial U niversi ty of Japan, a volume risk of cracks in the arch on striking the centres, flat long bridge, and t opgallant forecastle. H er water. ba~Jast
which is of especial interest as having been pr inted under a.spha.lte joints were introduced at th e springing of the arrangement is on the cellular double-bottom prm c1 ple,
the author's direction at T okio. The same publish ers crown. 'be thicknees of the arch at the crown is with six watertight bulkheads. H er frames are extra
also have r eady for issue a new work by Mr. H. C. 1ft. 8 ;n., and at the springing 2 ft. 3~ in. The structure strong amidships, and h old beams a nd webs ha'e con sequently been d1spensed with. All the latest improveSta.ndage on "Cements, Pastes, Glue!!, an d Gums."
is lighten ed by forming spandril arches over the ha.unche~. m en ts have been introduced . 'he officer s will be berthed
The report of the Chicago Fair directors , issued last T he greatest compressi ve stress on the concrete in t h e under the bridge, and the crew in the forecastle, and the
Wednesday, shows that up to the end of July the total arch is 27. 4 tons per squar e inch. The cement used tested accommodation for both is exception all y spacious an d well
r eceipts were 2~.078,548 dols. Th is represen ts a balance neat carried from 227 lb. to 262 lb. at seven days and ventilated. The veesel is intended for a line carry ing
over the expen diture of 895, 124 dols. The vouchers which from 312lb. to 340 lb. per sq uare inch at twenty -eight general cargo. H er en gin es have been built by M~ssrs .
have not been audited amount to 197,000 d ols., and obli - d ays. The cement used in the haunches of the arch was Thomas B ichardson and Son s, of Hartlepool, the d imengations und er contract to 824,025 d ols. The expenses composed of 1 cemen t, l i sand , 5 to 6 gravel, and in the sion s of th e cylinders being 24 in., 38 in., and G4 in.,
r each an aggregat~) of 22, 183,423 dols.
crown, 1 cement, 1 sand , and ~gravel. The gr avel was with a stroke of 42 in, the guar anteed sp eed loaded being
In a lecture delivered by Lieutenant \ V. H. J acques river grave], carefully washed, with no ston es less in size 11 knots per hour. On leaving the ways the vessel was
before the Franklin Institute, the speak er stated that he than a walnut or larger than a hen's egg.
n amed the Ca.yo ~Iono by Mrs. Drury, wife of Dr. A .
though t, taking into account the improvement of armour
In a p aper r ead by ~1r. Faija. before the Engineering D rury, of Halifax.
plates, that t he English authorities had gone too far in Congress at the World 's Fair, Chicago, the author stat es
their proposed reduction in size of their heaviest gun s that tha composition of good Portland cement should be
from 110 to G7 tons. \Vith modern materials and design~, as followa: L imE>, from 58 to 64: per cen t.; silica, fr om
CANADIAN CANALS.-Tbe Canadian Sault S te. Marie
he holds that more than one firm could now produce per- 18 to 24 per cen t . ; alumin a and iron, from 8 to 14 per Canal will be ready for traffic by May 1 n ext year,
fectly satisfactory guns of the larger calibre.
cen t. These three substances togeth er make up 95 to according to an a nnouncement made by the Canadian
The trade and n avigation returns for July show ex- 96 p er cent. of th e whole. The value of a cement should 1\Iinister of Railways and Canals.
ports am oun ting to l 9,65 1,374/., an increase of 187, 777!., be gauged by (1) th e time it takes t o set ; (2) its sou ndCATALOGUE.-We have r eceived fr om M essrs. Clarkf',
or 0.9 per cen t., on the corresponding month in 1892; t h e ness and freedom from blowin g; (3) its fineness when
imp orts amounting to 33,202,273l., a decr ease of 205, 312l., ground ; (4) its tensile strength at five and seven days. C hapman, and Co., L imited, Gateshead-on-Tyne, copies
or 0.6 per cent. '!'he value of the iron and s teel exports The second of these points is the mos t importan t . H e of three sections of their catalogue and price list. 'The
was 1, 872,005l., against 1,7G2,184l. , an increase of 6.2 per recommends the following specificat ion : 1. Fineness : first of these sections is devoted to illustrat ed descriptions
cent. ; and of the coal and coke exports 1,357, 056l., It shall pass through a. sieve of 625 boles to the sq_uar e of duplex steam pumps, whilst the second d eals with their
inch, a nd leave only 8 per cent. r esidue when s1fted patent windlasses, and the third with h oisting machi n ery.
against 1,632, 1131., a decr ease of 16.8 per cen t.
th rough a sieve having 2500 meshes p er square inch. 2.
In ord er to get over the difficulty as to n omin al and Expansion or cont raction or blowing : That a pat made
THE W HITWORTH S cROLARSHIPs. - Th e following is a
true ca.ndle-power of arc lamps, the following resolution of aged uement upon a piece of glass in the usual manner, li~t
of candidates successfu l in the competition for the
will be proposed before the E lectric Congr ess a t Chicago : placed imm edi ately after gauging in a vapour bath of \ Vh itwortb
Scholar ships and Exhibitions, 1893:
"The t erm 2000 candle-power is to mean an arc produced 100 d eg. Fa.br. nntil set hard, and then put bodily into
- - -by 10 amperes and 45 volts potfntial difference between water at 110 d eg. to 115 deg. Fahr. , shall n ot, when taken
the car bons, or a 450-watt arc. The cand le-power of arcs out t wenty-four h ours after wards, come off the glass,
produced by currents of more or less amperes, or more or Show cracks, be fri able on the edges, .or be m uch cur ved
fewer vults difference of potential, to be r ated propor- on the underside. 3. Th at b r iquettes that have been
Name.
Oc('upation.
Add ress.
tion ally.'
gauged, treated, and t ested in the usual manner sh all
We note th at M r. C. H. Sutton proposes in the R a1"l carry a t ensile stress of 250 lb. at end of three days, and,
road Gazette the use of the L emniscate as a transition if slow setting, at end of seven days an increase of 50 p er -------- - - - - - - - - - ---- - - -curve. The use of this curve h as previously been suggested cent., and a.t the end of twenty-eight days an increase of 1. Scholarships
by 1Ir. Max Edler von L eber in the Bulletin de la Com- 'i5 per cent., or at least carr y 250 lb. p er squar e in ch a.t (tenable for three
reare.)
mission I nternotimale du Oongres de Chemins de Fer for the end of seven days, and 350 lb. at the end of twenty
Hamilton, William 23 Electrical engi neer Glas~ow

August, 1892. Mr. von L eber s tates that this curve is, in eight d ays.
Longbottom, John 23 Engineer . .
. . Keighlt>y
125

his opinion, th e best for use, as there is a simple relation

G.
~ a year
b etween the radiu s of cur vature and the r adius vector of
Malpas, Arthur E 22
. . [.ondon

eac.h

LAUNCHES
AND
TRIAL
TRIPS.
the curve, a nd the polar or rectilinear co-0rdinates corre
Durley, Richard J. ?.f:

.. '
ON
F
rid
ay,
the
11th
inst.
,
the
Blyth
Shipbuilding
Com2. Exhibitions
spe nding to any given radius of cur vature.
p~ny, L imited, laun ched a large steel scr ew steamer for
(tenable for one
An impor tant scheme for the transmission of power is Newcastle owners. The L emgo is 293ft. in length, 39ft.
yt>a.r. )

now being considered in :::Jwitzerland. It is proposed t o in breadth, ligh t draugh t. Triple engines of lar~e power Smith, Charles F , 20 &fechanical engi Glasgow
50

dam the River R euse and con vey th e water t o a storage are being built by ~lessrs. G. Cla.rk, L imited, of Sunderne er
Ball , John ..
. . 21 Student ..
.. Derby ..
and distributing r eser voir having a capacity of 3,000,000 land, and will be put on board immediately.
0

Buchan, Will iam 21 Engineer ..

. . Glasgow
60
cubic feet, and situated at Combe Garrot. From h ere

--Chambers, Jobn B. 19 Engineer's

ap- London
..
bO
the water is to be distributed t o t he communities of
On Thursday, the l Oth inst., 11essrs. William Simon s
prentice
Neucbatel, L oche, and L a Chaux-de-Fonds. Th e head and Co., of Renfrew, launch ed complete from their yard Loveridge, Henry 21 Engine fitter
. . Souths2a,
60
a vailable will be about 300 ft., and the conduits will have a Jarge hopper st eamer for the Clyde Trustees. The
J.
Portsmouth
a capacity of 177 cubic feet per second , though t he flow of leading particulars ar e : L en gth, 205 ft. ; breadth, 3!5 ft. ; Ireland, Wrn. F ... 26 Draughfbuu. n . . Glaegow
..
50
Ft>a.rnley,
George
21
Student
..
.. Shipley
..
the river varies between 100 and 60 cubic feeb p er second d epth, 15 ft. G in. The hopper has a. capacity for 1200
50
W.
only. The power will be distributed from the turbine t ons of m at erial. Th e vessel is propelled by two sets of
yles, Oliver .. 23 Engineel' student Ec. in">urgh . .
EO
stations by electricity, the distances being from 7! to 11 tr~p~e- expa.nsion Angin es and twin screws capable of a t- St
ap- Pc r.smouth ..
RusseJJ, George M. 21 Shipwright
eu
miles.
ta.l~mg a speed of 10i knots per h our when loaded. It is
prentioe
Speaking at the Engineering Congress at the World's bmlt under the British Corpor ation requ irem ents and Jude, Alexander 17,Eogineer a.ppren. Hull ..
60

A.
tice
Fair, Sir Benjamin Baker stated th at in examining old survey, a nd is a d uplicate of No. 21 lat ely lau nch ed by
Amor, Edward R 17 En~int>-fitter ap- De\'onport . .
EO
wrought-iron bridges he b ad found that the bridges had the builders for the same owners.
prentice
suffered most at the joints, and n ot ab places wher e the
J e-ffery, Joseph .. 25 E!lgineer student Birmingham ..
50
strain sh eets would show the greatest fatigue. In the
On Saturday. the 12th ins t ., the Havock t h e firs t of Re~ nolds , Paul J . 19 Ftttfr
..
. Plumstead
60
case of bridges having trough floors, for example, be ba d t he n ew type o f torped o-boat destroyer being'constructed
(l\ent)
..
found that the fail ur es wer e ser ious wher e the flooring for the Admiralty, was laun ch ed from the works of Pilkington, Tboe. 25 Fitter
. . London
. . 50
R~".y
nold
s
,
Richd.
24
Fitter
.
.
.. 1Cardiff ..
was connected t o the webs of the main girders. He had M essr s. Y arrow and Co. , at Poplar. She is 180 ft. in
50

&0
seen the webplates nearly cut through with the wriggling len~tb, and will have a displacement of about 220 t on s. Wilson, Gorge . . 21 ll echanica.l engi Sheffield

ne
er
of t h e connections, and considered it t o be better practice Thts vessel was fully described jn a. recent issue (see Ha.rumlbl'lt, Waiter 20 Fitter

.. Plumstead
60
to put the troughs direct ly on top of th e angle plates. In ENGINEERING, vol. 1v. , page 848), and it is nob n ecessary
0.
(Kent)
other ri veted parts he bad found the g reat est wear from therefore, to enter into d etails at present.
' Orr, J ohn . .
.. 23 Apprentice engi. Airdrie . .
CO

neer
the loosening of the rivets.
Chl;lbb, I . William 22 Draughtsman .. Londo,
Three
~ew.
U
nited
Stat~s
wa.rsbips
ha
ve
lately
und
er
[0

The drawinga h ave been recei ved at Cha.tham DockSm1tb, Henry . . 21 En~inee r'sa.ppren Brighton
50
gon
e
t~e1_r
tr1
als.
Th
e
momtor
1
\fonterey
d
id
12.75
knots;

yard from the A dmiralty for the construction of t h e new

tlCe
twin-scr ew fi rst -class armour ed battle@bip to be named the tran~n~g vessel Bancroft didl4.4, or2.4 m or e than had Green, Frederick 21 Eo~in er'sappren- W a n s t e a d
50
_t1ce
(Eseex )
D.
the M agnificent, which will be the largest and most been ant1c1 pated ; and the gun vessel Machias did 15.46,
Powell, John
.. 21 F1 tter
..
. . Crewe ..
powerful battleship. con structed at t h at dock yard, or .46 more than th e s tipulated sp eed.
ro
Hardy,
James
H
.
24
Mechan
ic
.
.
.
.
Wocdlt>y,
ne~~
50
being longer and W\d er than the vessels of the Royal
Stock port
On Thursday, the 10th inst., the cr uiser Such et was Sht'pherd,
Sovereign and (Hood clasP. The work will n ot be comJame 23 Dra.ughtstra.n .. Swindon
..
l~unched
at
T
oulon.
S
he
was
originally
designed
as
a
menced for some fe w weeks in consequence of the presII.
sure upon the establishment, chi efly in connection with s1ster .to the Davout, but was subsequently lengthened. Thompson, Her 23 Engineer ..
. Sheffit>ld
fO

As
built,
she
measures
318
ft.
3
in.
long
by
43
ft.
5
in.
bert
the r epairs to the H owe, upon which over 1000 h ands are
n ow engaged. The work in the double b ottoms of thiR broad, and, at a . mean draug_bt of 21 ft ., displaces ~430 Stepbt>ns, Evan . . '2~ Draughtsman . - IS.vindon
fiO
E.
20
.,
..
Wol
verton

Morrall,
Henry
vessel h as proved very injurious to the men from t he foul t on s. She con ta.m s two h orizontal com pound engines
50
Bates.
Herbt>rt
.
18
Fitter
.
.
.
.
Man
chester

50
air generated by the v~ssel being under water so long, t ogether developing with n atural draught 5000, and with H1ll, Charles H ... '20 En~ineer'sappren- Stratford (Lo~ fo!ced draught 9000 horse-power. H er extreme speed
fO
and about 50 are n ow on th e sick list.
. .
tlce
..
.
dc. n)
wtll be 20 knots. The a rm ament is to consist of four Masst>y, Wtlham
F. 24 ~lechanic ..
. Newport(Salop)
The Admir alty have decided to gradua11y increase the 6.2 breechloadinfl', four 3.V quick-firing, twel ve 1.8 and
60
'

---

THE

M cG ILL

U N I V E R S I T Y,

M 0 N T RE AL.

tl.)
.-4

(Fm D esc1iptiffn, see Page 195.)

tT1

GJ
~

z
FIG.

2.

TESTI~G LABORATORY.

FIC. 4.

tT1
tT1

HYDRAULIC LA UORATORY .

iO

~I

z
C1

c
Q

-..

00
~

00

\()

w
FIG. 3.

D YNA)IO

RooM.

F .J(: . 5.

LIGHTI NG STATION.

E N G I N E E R I N G.

AuG. 18, 1893.]

-

AGENTS FOR ''ENGINEERING."

A.uanu, Vienna: Lehmann and Wentzel, Kimtnentraase.
OAPB TOWN : Gordon and Gotob.
EDINBU&GH : John .Menzies and Oo., 12, Hanoveretreet .
FB.A.NOB, Paris : Boyveau and Ohevillet, Librairle Etrang~re, 22,
Rue de la Baoque; .M. Em. T erquem, 31bil Boulevard Haussmann.
Also for Advertisements, Agenue Havaa, 8, Place de la Bourse.
(See below.)
Ga&MANY, Berlin : Messrs. A. Asber and Oo., 6, Un ter den Llnden .
Leipzig : F. A. Brockhaus.
Mulhouee: H. Stuokelberger.
GLASGOW : William Love.
I NDIA, Calcutta: Tbaoker, Spink, and Co.
Bombay: Thacker and Co., Limited.
ITALY : U. Hoepli, .Milan, and any post ofBoe.
LIVBR.POOL: Mrs. Taylor, Landing Stage.
MANCBBSTBR : J ohn H eywood, 143, Deaosgat e.
N sw SoUTH W ALRS, Sydney : Turner and Hendereon, 16 and 18,
B uoterstreet. Gordon and Gotoh, Georgestreet.
QU'BBNSLAND (SOUTH), Brisbane : Gordon and Gotoh .
(NORTD), Town sdlle: T. Willmett and Oo.
RooTIIRDAM : H. A. Kramer and Son .
SOUTH AUSTRALIA, Adelaide : W. 0. Rigby.
UNITBD STATKB, New York: W. B . Wiley, 63, East 1othstreeb.
Chicago : B . V. Bolmes, 44, Lakeside Buildloi
VtorORIA, .MBLBOURNB : Melville, MulleD and Sle.de, 262/264, OollinS
street . Gordon and Gotoh , Limited, Queenstreet.

NOTICE.

The New Cunarders "CAMPANIA" and "LUCANIA ;" and the WORLD'S COLUMBIAN
EXPOSITION OF 1893.
The Publisher begs to announce that a Reprint la
now ready of the Descriptive Matter and Illustra
tions contained 1n the issue of ENGINEERING of
April 21st, comprising over 180 pages, with nine
two -page and four single page Plates, printed
throughout on special Plate paper, bound In cloth,
gUt lettered. Price 6s. Post free, 6a. 6d. The ordl
nary edition of the issue of AprU 21st 1s out of print.

ENGINEERING.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 18,1893.
OUR ENGINEERING NAVY.

THE adjective in t he above heading may appear,

NOTICE TO AMERICAN SUBSCRI BERS.
at
first
sight,
redundant.
All
navies
are
now
We b eg to announce t hat American Subscript ions to ENGINlDRING
may now be addressed either direct to the publish er, MR. OBARLBS " engineering," just as :fifty years ago all were
GILBBRT, at the Offices of tbis Journal, Nos. 35 and 86, Bedford sailing ; and yet in the arrangement of naval
street, Strand, London, W.C., or to our accredited Agents for t he
United States, Mr. \V. B . Wit. BY, 63, E&at 10t bstreet, New York, affairs we, in this great engineering country, proand Mr. H . V. B olmes, 44, Lakeside Building , Chicago. The ceed as if the steam engine had never supplanted
prices of Subscription (payabl e in advance) for one 1ear are : For masts and sails. The fact is very strongly brought
thin (foreign) paper edition , ll. 16s. Od. ; for thtok (ordinary)
paper edition, 2Z. Os. 6d., or if remitted to Agents, 9 dollar& for home to us by a correspondence between five
thtn and 10 dollars for thick.
members of Parliament and the First L ord of the
Admiralty, recently published in t he Times. The
ADVERTISE.M ENTS.
five
members
referred
to
are
all
engineers,
and
The obarge for advertisements is thr ee shillings for the first four
Uoes or under, and eightpeoee for each additional line. The line they have most fitly taken up the case of engineeraverages seven word s. Payment m ust accompany all orders for ing in the Navy. Their names should be .lll:ensingle advertidemeots, other wise their inser tion cannot be
guaranteed . T erms for displayed advertisements on t he wrapper tioned with honour ; t hey are John Penn , Wllham
and on the inside pages may be obtained on application. Ser ial Mat her , James K itson, William Allan, and G. W.
adver tisements will be inserted with all practicable regularity, but W olff. It is to be hoped they will , with true engiabsolute re~larity cannot be guaranteed.
neer 's persistence, not give up the work so well
Advertisements intended for insertion In the our- begun until they have brought matters to a more
rent week's issue must be delivered not later than
6 p.m. on Thursday. In consequence of the necessity satisfactory state.
for going to press early with a portion of the editton,
In May last these gentlemen wrote a letter to
alterations for standtng Advertisements should be
received not later than 1 p.m. on Wednesday after- Lord Spencer, in which they put forward a sumnoon ln each week.
mary of views t hey had pr eviously expressed at
The sole Agents for Advertisements from the Con greater lengt h in an interview with t he First
ttnent of Europe and the French Colonies are the
L ord. The alteration made in the arrangement
AGENCE BAV AS, 8, Place de la Bourse, Paris.
of engine-room complements was the moving cause
which led Mr. P enn and his colleagues to approach
SUBSCRIPTIONS, HOME AND FOREIGN.
the Board of Admiralty. At the time t he changes
ENGINEERING oan be supplied , direotl from the publis h er, in question were made, we pointed out the undepost free for T welve Months ab the following rates, payable in
sirable r esults that would follow them, and the
advan ce:views we then put forward are so closely parallel to
For the United Kingdom ................ 1 9 2
those expressed in the letter now under considera., all pl11ces abroad : tion, that were we to quote it in full it would be
Thin paper copies ............ 1 16 0
Thick
.,
... . ........ 2 0 6
very like repeating t hat which we previously wrote.
All accounts are p ayable to the publisher, MR. CBARLRS GILBBRT. The letter of five members of the House of
Cheques should be crossed ., Un ion Bank, Cbariog Cross Branch."
Commons has, however, t hat behind it which will
Post Office Orders payable at Bedford.street, Strand, W.O.
When forei(tn Subscriptions are sent by Post OfBce Orders comma nd attention at Whitehall, and it is only to
ad\'ice should be sent to the Publisher .
be regretted t hat, instead of five, there ar e not five
Foreign and Colonial Subscribers receiving hundred engineers in Parliament to turn their
Incomplete Copies through N ews-Agenta are requested to communicate the fact to the Publisher, attention to this subject for the good of the ser vice
together with the Agent's Name and Address.
and t he benefit of the nation at large. The letter
Oftice for Publication and Advertisements Nos. states t hat the alterations made in engine room
S5 and 36, Bedfordstreet, Strand, London, W.C.
complements would seriously impair efficiency------firstly, by reduction of numbers ; secondly, by
T BLBG&A.PBIO AnDRBBS-ENGINEERING, LONDON.
T BLKPBOtrB NUMBBR-3663,
change in constit ution ; and t hirdly, by rendering
the service less attractive.
The reduction in
ENGINEERING is registered for transmission abroad.
nu mhers appears to Mr. Penn and his colleaoues
RBADING CASES. - Reading cases for containing t weotysix '' a r etrograde step, in view of t he fact: that the
numbers of .ENGlNKBR.ING may be bad of the p ublisher or of any machinery of all kinds now placed on board ships
newsageot. Price 6s. each.
of war is steadily increasing in power, quantity,
and complexity, and that, therefore, the sta.ff of
men should be increased rather than diminished."
CONTENTS.
PAGE
PAGB The conclusion is so obvious that it requires no
Amerioan Universiti~s at
The Examinations of the
comment. The letter addressed to the First Lord
the Columbiao Exposition
Science and Art Depart.
(Illustrated) ............ 195
ment .... .. .... .. .. .... 212 bears date May 5 last, and on August 6 L ord
Th e I oternational Maritime
T est of a Bethlehem Armour
Spencer r eplied by a letter in which he states
Conaress ..... .... ..... 196
Phte (llltut,ated) ..... . 212
in r egard t o t his first point : "Although there ha~
British Colonies at Cbicago 200 ITbe T llxation of Factories
R ;veting Mach ioey (l llu.s.) 204
in Fran ce . ............. 218 been some reduction in the total number of engineStan1ard Cattle Oar (l ll'U8
London Societies - No. XL.
trated) ...... .......... .. ~04
(lllmtrated) ....... .. ... 214 room complements, this reduction (not exceedino 4
125 Ton Hammer, Betble
Literature .... ...... ..... 215 per cent) is co~fined e1.1tirely to the older ships,
h em Iron Company, Penn
Notes ........ ... ...... .. . 216 there bemg an Increase In t he modern ships. ,
In
sylvania (fllustrated) .. .. 205 Wick Harbou r ...... . ..... 217
Engines and Boilers of he
Feed Water Heater (lllus.) 2I8 our former article* we pointed out the misleading
Steamer " Iberia" (lllta~
The l!l ventor of Gutta
nature of t his reply-which had previously been
trated) ....... .. ... .... 206
Penha Covered Wir e .... 218 put forward-but, even on the First Lord's own
Notes from the Uoit~d
Screw Propulsion with Non
States .................. 207
Reversible E ogin es ...... 218 showing, 'Ye have a reduction all round of 4 per
Notes from Cleveland and
Ships' Rudders ... . ...... 218 cent. This, to quote t he words of the letter, is
the Nor thern Counties .. 207 The Cyclone Disintegrator
Notes from South York
and Pulveriser (l llua. ) .. 219 t ruly "a r etrograde step;" whereas the condit ions
shi re .. .............. .... 207 Indust rial Notes ..... ... .. 219 of the service require a substantial advance.
The
Notes from t h eNor t h . . . . . . 208 The Cleveland District . . . . 221 Admiralty excuse t hemselves by saying, in effect,
Notes from t he Soutb .West 208 On the Electric Lig h t of
L~un ches and Trial Trips . . 209
Lighthouss (llltutrated) 223 that t hey have gone from very bad to only a little
.Miscellanea .. . .. . . . .. .. . . . 2091 Engineering" Patent Re
worse. It reminds one of t he plea of Mrs. Easy 's
Our Engineering Navy .... 211
oord(Rlmtrated) . ....... 225
wet-nurse, "It was only a very little one.''
With a TwoPage B'/lgramng of the N EW TRIPLEEX
In r egard to the second point, the change in conPANSION ENGINES OF TUB PACIFI C STEAM8R
11

IBERIA."

See ENGINEERING, vol. liii. , page 753.

211

stitution Mr. Penn and his friends come to the

only con~lusion to which practical engineer s c~uld
arrive. ''The substitution of stokers for engineroom artificer s makes a change of so dangero~ s
a character that, in our opinion, ships o.f war ~Ill
be found to be most inadequately furnished with
skilled men when the stress and strain of war service has to be sustained- a stress and strain, both
on men and machinery, altogether beyond that to
which they are put in time of peace." To t his t he
First L ord of the Admiralty r eplies : "The substitution of chief stokers for engine-room artificers
has only been carried out in those cases in which
actual experience has shown that the change would
be beneficial, and it has n ever been intended that
stokers, who have been qualified as m echanics,
should be treated as if they were capable of performing all the work of skilled engine-r oom artificers." ' Ve have here a conflict of opinions.
Mr. Penn, who should know something about warship machinery, and his brother engineers in the
House, say, ''Ships of war will be found to be
most inadequately furnished wit h skilled men,
when th~ stress and strain of war ser vice has to
be sustained." The First L ord says the subs titution of stokers for engine-r oom artificer s has been
shown "by actual experience " to be beneficial. It
is evident that L ord Spencer and his correspondents are taking different views of the subj ect.
The latter, with the training of engineers, are
thinking of the use for which t he machine should
be designed--namely, the fighting of naval battles ;
the First Lord, with t rue Parliamentarian instinct,
is t hinking only of his party's term of office, which
is, on t he t heory of chances, likely to be one of
peace. The true reason why we ar e to have stok ers
in place of mechanics appears, however , in a passage which occurs later in Lord Spencer's lett er :
"It is undoubtedly difficult to secure for the Navy
the most highly t rained and competent artisans."
In t his sentence the First Lord gives the whole
case away. It is not t hat mechanics are not required ; it is the difficulty in getting them.
H ow to get over that difficulty is a subject which might better employ the Board
of Admiralty than inventing reasons for minimising it. Of on e thing we are sure : that
were engine-room ar tificers treated in a way
which their skill and t raining should insure,
t hey would be forthcoming in sufficient numbers
to fully meet all the needs of t he Navy. That
t hey have not been so treated is notorious, and t hat
t hey n ever will be so t reated appears pretty certain,
so long as the administration of naval affairs is conducted in its present antiquated manner, and
t he engineering side r emains totally unrepresented
in the management. For the present we will quote
what the five engineer m em her s who sign the letter
"assert, wit hout hesitation, that if, in time of war
the former (warships) were called upon to do any~
thi~g l~ke t heir best, and t o a~proach the speed
mamtamed by the latter(mercantlle vessels) in t heir
r egular service, t he present engineroom complements wou~d be altoge.ther insufficient and incapable
of performmg t he vaned, onerous, and responsible
duties that would devolve upon them." If ever
disaster overtake our N aYy-and so surely as it is
tested in serious warfare disaster will overtak e it
unless differently organised- the Admiralty authorities can never plead that they were n ot warned.
The plain statement of the five engineering members of the House of Commons comes with too
gr eat wei~ht to be either ignored or forgotten .
And here It should be explained t hat "disaster "
does not necessarily mean defeat. The Crimean
~xpedition was terribly disastrous to this country
In the unnecessary loss and sufferina of our t roops
through official ineptit ude, although we came out
of it in a measure victorious.
The letter of Mr. Penn and his friends concludes
~y asking tha~ an exhaustive inquiry may be made
Into the questions raised, and after t hree months
all that t he First L ord can do is to send a reply of
gen eralities in which he r efuses to arant t he request.. " In M~rch las.t, " h e says, ' ~we obtained
aut~onty t o shg.htly Increase the proportion of
en!pne-r~om. ar tificers as compared with other
ar~tficers ratings, and also to impr ove the pay of
chief and other stokers." We have already in an
article published a few weeks ago,* expo;ed the
falseness of t his ''improvement," and we need not
go over the ground again. Yet it is en the st r ength
of this "slight increase, " on account of " these

* See ENGINEERING, vol. lv., page 908.

212

changes which may appear small," that the Admiralty practically ignores the charge brought by
so competent a tribunal as the five engineering
m emhers of the House of Corn mons, and refuses
even to make inquiry.
The more one examines L ord Spencer's reply the
more feeble and. unsitisfactory does it appear, and
one wonders that a r esponsible Minister could have
put his name to such a document. In one passage
he is made to say, " it is undoubtedly difficult to
secure for the Navy the most highly-trained and
competent artisans;" whilst a few lin es furth er on
the letter states, in reference to the same class of
men, that ''no difficulty has been hitherto found
in obtaining the class of men r equired. " The
latter statement is notoriously opposed to fact.
The plea for not granting the inquiry is again so
palpably weak. Because there has been a little
shuffiing of the cards- a small change and a slight
increase-because "the manceuvres will afford
valuable information," because the reduction in
complements has been slight, because ''there are
many simple mechanical duties which stokers
qualified for the work are fully able to perform,''
and, finally, because satisfactory reports have been
received from some of the ships to which the new
scale of complements has been applied- because
of these wholly trivial facts the Admiralty is
'' anxious not to reopen the question now. "
We must not forget, however, that L ord Spencer
is to a great extent no more than a mouthpiece.
He has been at the Admiralty, on this occasion,
but a shor t time. He has the admirals. his colleagues on the Board, to prompt him. We have
now an engineering Navy-engineering in all its
branches, but without a single engineer in a position of high authority. The Board of Admiralty
consists of Parliamentarians and admirals ; mere
amateurs so far as a large part of their duties are
concerned. The Royal Dockyards are managed by
admirals or captains-pure amateurs to hold the
chief position in large manufacturing establishments ; even the captains of Her Majesty's ships
are amateurs so far as regards the mate1iel they
have under their command. There is, however,
one gratifying circumstance in the management of
the Navy, and we hasten to notice it in order that
anything we say may not be misunderstood. The
executive officers who govern the Navy- we leave
out of question the Parliamentarians, a class with
whom we have little sympathy-are actuated by unselfish motives ; the taxpayer need have little fear
that the money he is mulcted in is corruptly spent.
The statement will appear gratuitous and unnecessary ; happily it is so now, for it has notal ways been
the case. But in adopting the term "unselfish "
we use it in its narrowest sense. In whatever
position t he naval officer is placed, he does not
prostitute his office to his own individual benefit ;
but executive officers of the Navy do constantly
strive for the aggrandisement of their own class in
a manner that does not work to the advantage of
the Navy as a whole. Good and evil are so intimately mixed here that it is difficult to know how
the bad may be destroyed without sacrificing the
good. E sprit de co'rps, caste prejudice-call it
what we may-is the one great source of military
virtue. An officer will give his life, or live in
poverty-which is harder- rather than turn his
back on hie cloth ; and, indeed, t he same thing
may be said through all grades of both services, to
a greater or lesser degree. ln the executive naval
officer the feeling is simply more predominant than
in any other class. Jt is bred in him from his
youth upward; it is the chief lesson he learns on
the Britannia, and is the nat ural outgrowth of the
schoolboy enthusiasm which finds expression in
" Well done our side !" I t is t his class feeling
which now has largely supplanted our ancient
patriotism ; a wider, but- at present- less intense
emotion, but one that national peril may perhaps
yet restore to its former vigour. That is the
good side of the executive naval officer 's training; it produces a fearless, honourable gentleman willing to subordinate his own interests
to tbe honour of his profession, but a little too
apt to look on the rest .of mankin~ as outside ~he
circle of the elect-that 1s the bad stde of t he t raining. In spite of good breeding and dashing exterior,
there is a taint of the snob, as there must be with
all exclusives, whether of birth, rank, the professions, schools, universities, art, or science. Unfortunately t he executive naval officer does not recognise the engineering branch as within his select
fold. The admirals at Whiteha.ll-and no men are

[AuG. I 8, 1893.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
more "schoolboys of larger growth" t han admirals
- do not look on the engineer as " our side." It
is strange how strong is the influence <.'f this seeming trifle of social dist inction, but it is all-powerful
at times. At sea we can trust the chief executive
officer to look after his ship, although in that he
is apt to let prejudice cloud his judgment, but in
t he executive of the Navy as a whole the engineering aspect must be fully represented if we wish
for an adequate fleet. The facts put forward by
Mr. Penn and his colleagues strongly bear this out,
but not with a tithe of the force possessed by Lord
Spencer, speaking, in his reply, as the chief of the
Board of Admiralty.

THE EXAMINATIONS OF THE SCIENCE

AND ART DEPARTMENT.
A CON. !DERATION of the papers given in the
May examinations during the past few years shows
that though the questions set in the departments of
Applied Mechanics and Steam have been greatly
improved, as compared with what they once were,
t hey are still far from satisfactory ; indeed, some
eight or nine years back the q uestions set in
these departments were little less than a scandal.
We may remark, for t he information of our readers,
that three papers are set each year on applied
mechanics. The subject is divided into three stages,
viz., the elementary, ad vanced, and the honours
stage, and in the latter it was, we believe, the
intention of the Department t hat questions r equiring a fairly advanced knowledge of mechanical
principles should be aeked. This has, however,
not been the case in the past, as we knew of
one case in which a first-class in the honours
section of the A pp lied Mechanics paper was obtained by a student who was unable to take out
the bending moments on a simple beam. Like a
wise youth, he had concentrated his attention on
the various forms of watch escapements and other
pieces of mechanism described in the text- books
published by the examiner, and having at the same
time practised himself in making rapid hand
sketches of these, he was well equipped for the
kind of question most in vogue at that time. As
we have already stated, this appears to be largely
changed, and some knowledge of mechanical principles seems now to be required. Even yet there is,
to our mind, too much descriptive work demanded
in the honours section of these papers. Thus last
year the following question was asked : "Describe,
with the aid of sketches, the construction and
operation of some form of apparatus suitable for
the separation of cream from milk for commercial
purposes." For this question 70 marks were given,
the highest number awarded for any answer. Such a
question is perfectly suitable for the advanced
stage, but is, we conceive, a most unfair one to
give in the honours section. Anybody, almost,
could give a sort of general sketch of a centrifugal
separator, and if this only is required the question
is far too easy . If more is required, it is too difficult,
as few engineers, not having previously studied
the subject, would be prepar ed to design in detail
a centrifugal separator in the half-hour available at
the examination. The very question of bearings
alone, for machinery running at such a high speed
as these separators run at, would require a lot of
consideration from a man accustomed only to
ordinary engine work. Another question in the same
paper r efers to a r oving frame, a description being
required of Houldsworth's differential motion. We
should like to know how many of t he students of
science classes, outside the Manchester district, have
even seen a roving frame. The differential gear is a
beautiful piece of mechanism, no doubt, and questions on its properties are fair enough, but t hey
should be confined to the principles involved, and
not to details of design, which are much more suitable for the paper on machine construction.
We note in t hese papers hardly a sincrle
question
0
on hydraulics--not a question that would lead
one to suspect that the turbine had ever been invented- not a refer ence is made to the measurement of water by the flow over a weir, or to the
flow of water t hrough a. pipe or channel. In short
th e only questions relating to hydraulics deal with
pressure engines. Even here not a r eference is
made to the strength of a thick cylinder. In the
only question in which the thickness of an hydraulic
cylinder has to. be c~lculated (see paper 1890), t he
s~udents are mstructed to treat it as a thin cyhnder ! Indeed, t his is only an instance of the equally
remarkable fact th~t the subject of the elastic pro-

perties of materials is treated quite as cavalierly

as that of hydraulics. The only question on the
subject in the honours papers during t he past four
years was given in 1891, where the formula for the
deflection of a beam supported at its ends and loaded
uniformly is asked for. Has the examiner ever heard
of t he theorem of three moments, Euler's column
formula, or Castigliano's theorem of least work 1 We
do not mean to say that the students are to be expected to work out in the short t ime available, at an
examination, t he stresses arising in an arched rib, for
instance, but they should certainly have a knowledge
of the principles involved, which can easily be tested
by giving such q uestions as, for example, the distribution of load on the elastic legs of a four-legged
table, when a concentrated load is placed at any
point of the rigid top of the table. Other simple
questions involving a knowledge of the principles of
elastic equilibrium will r eadily suggest themselres.
As matters stand, we do not hesitate to
say that a man may have a thorough knowledge
of so excellent a work as Cotterill's "Applied
MechanicA," and totally fail to pass t he honours section of this extraordinary examination; whilst another man, with not one tithe the former's grasp
of mechanical principles, may and does come off
with flying colours. No wonder the hard-headed
chiefs of factories in this country have had such a
contempt for theoretical knowledge in the past. I t
n"!ay possibly be objected that t hese subjects are
not included in the syllabus. Whether this is true
or not we do not know, but if they are not thus included, they ought to be. In the examination in
electricity, in which there would be some excuse
for the questions being not abrP.ast of the present
status of electrical science, considering the advances that have been made in recent years, we n ote
that the exam iners do endeavour to keep up with the times, and there is thus the less excuse for the
remissness shown in the applied mechanics ection.
Coming to the papers on steam, here again we
find the honours section largely given up to questions which would more properly be asked in the
paper on machine construction, as they deal wit h
details of construction, instead of with principles.
~f the subject were headed ''The Steam Engine "
mstead of " Steam" we could understand it, but in
that case an engineer , and not a physicist or
mathematician would be the proper examiner.
In this matter, however, the papers seem to
vary much. Thus in 1889 there was on the
whole a fairly good paper, though no less than fi ve
of the nine questions r efer to valve gears, and onl y
t~o to thermodynamics. The proportions, to our
mu~d, should be reversed. In fact, thermodynamics,
w h1eh should be, one would think, the main
feature of the honours paper, r eceives n early
as scurvy treatment as that of hydraulics in
the A pplied Mechanics section. No one would
imagine, for instance, from these papers that
such a thing as entropy had ever been defined? nor hav~ we come across a single question on
free~mg machmes. The only questions given as t o
effic1ency are based on Carnot's cycle, which is not
directly applicable to an ordinary steam encrine the
maximum possiLle efficiency of the latter b~ing' :
L (T1

T1

T 2)

+ T1 -

T il - T olog!!
.
- 'I' 2

instead of
T 1 - T 'l
Tl

the former always being less than t he latter.

Ra~kine's fine,concept~on of an ideal steam engine,
to ~h1ch Carnot s cycle 1s applicable, and his calculatiOn of the density of steam therefrom is also
completely ignored. In short, these p~pers on
"Steam " seem to have been set on the luc'lCs a no11
l1tcendo principle, for there is hardly a reference to
the properties of steam in the whole of them.
Surely it would be reasonable to expect in the
honours. paper a knowledge of t he method of
calculatmg the steam accounted for in the diagram,
and of the heat exchanges between the cylinder
and the steam, which an ordinary diagram shows to
occur. In place of this, upwards of one-half of Pach
paper has usually consisted of questions on machine
construction, which, we may be pardoned for
thinking, are out of place.

TEST OF A BETHLEHEM ARMOUR

PLATE.
SoME very interesting r eception tests were conducted p.t Indian Read, Maryland, on July 11 ?

E N G I N E E R I N G.

Auc. 18, 1893.]

The trial attracted much interest. The Sec~eta.ry of the Navy, and Commodore Sampson, Ch.Ief
of the Bureau of Naval Ordnance, together Wlth
d
numerous other officers of th e army an navy, were
present. Mr. B ouvard, of the Cr~'!sot \Vorks,
and Captain Orde-Brown, of the Br1t1sh Army, as

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Bethlehem Iron Company.
The plate was a 17 -in. nickel-steel plate unHarveyed, made at t he Bethlehem Iron \Vorks,
a.nd rep resenting a 13 in. gun barbette for t he

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United States ship Indiana. Throughout t he trial

forged chrome steel shells, made at the Carpenter
W orks at R eading, were used. These she1ls showed
themselves of excellent quality, as the account of
the trial will show.
The plat e was 145 in. by 100 in., and weighed
69,798 lb. It was bent so that its length coincided with a circle 35 ft. in diameter, and was
put up on the backing with its longer elements
horizontal, this being done for convenience, and
not being the way it will stand in the ship.
A 12-in. 35-calibre gun was used. The projectiles weighed 850 lb. , and had ogival heads of the
usual form. According t o the terms of the armour
specifications, the first shot at a 17-in. plate for
acceptance is to be fired with a striking velocity of
1322 ft., and this shot must cause no cracking. A
second shot should then be fired ~ calibres distant
from the first impact at 1495 ft. striking velocity.
This shot must not pass through the plate. If the
plat e stands this test without either cracking or
perforation, a. third shot fired at 1858 ft. would pass
the plate on the premium test, for which additional
price \Vould be paid .
First Shot.-The first shot struck a point 42 in.
from the upper edge and 42 in. from the righ t -hand
edge of the plate. It penetrated 16.6 in. There
was no wood showing at the bottom of the hole,
and there were no cracks anywhere in the plate.
The proj ectile was thrown back about 40 ft. and
was very slightly upset; so little, that until carefully examined, it appeared t o be entirely true. An
engraving showing the plate is given above.
Seco1td Shot.-The second shot was fired with a.
striking velocity of 1495 ft., and struck a point
37~ in. above the bottom of the plate and about
68 in. from the left~hand edge. Its penetration
was 20 in. There were no cracks whatever, and
the wood was just showing at the bottom of the
hole. The projectile was thrown back about 40ft.,
very slightly upset.
Thi1d Shot. - The striking velocity of t he third
shot was 1858 ft. It struck a point 36 in. from the
t op of the plate, and 34 in. to the left of its centre
line. The plate was completely perforated, but
there was no cracking.
The fringe and bulge of the plate was normal in
all cases, and the fracture at the fringe and elsewhere showed every evidence that the metal was
sound, uniform, and fine-gr ained. The engraving
demons trates the symmetry of the edges of the
holes. The bolts, which were twenty-four in number, were 3. 2 in. in diameter in their thinnest
part, t he shank. The plate was bolted by these to
subst1ntial wood backing of oak 3 ft thick, sup
port ed against an earthen parapet.

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well as several members of the Congressional Committee, were also present, and all expressed . themselves as gratified with the good results obtatned .

THE TAXATION OF FACTORIES

IN FRANCE.
I N dealin et with the subject of the rat ing of machinery in f~reign countries recently (vide page 51
an te ), we referred incidentally t o the fact that the
F rench system of direct taxat1on of industrial establishments lends itself in a. peculiar degree to a deli~
cate differentiation ; and in view of the opinion now
very extensively entertained that the incidence of
taxation in this country must form the subject of
legislation at an early date, an inquiry into the
French system may be interesting, even although
its application in this country may not be commendable. It is complicated apparent ly, although
doubtless ~imple in its application to those
thoroughly acquainted with all the provisione, since
the system is most explicitly laid down. In France,
again, the administration takes from municipalities
and departmen tal authorities the power to impose
the rates, so t hat ther e is a uniformity whi eh is
not possible under the British system. This u~i
formity does not mean a common rate for all part1es
and industries ; indeed, the feature of the French
system is that the industries, trades, and professions are not weighed in a common balance for t he
purpose of taxation, as, for instance, on the basis of
rental value. As our Consul at Rouen in a report
on the subject says, the manufacturer who sometimes requires vast buildings and costly machinery
is not taxed, as in Britain, quite out of proportion
to and outrageously beyond the banker or stockbroker, who may be turning over millions in a few
small r ooms. A system which is thus possible of
great discrimination, must ther efore be interesting
in its details. There are four direct taxes, as explained by Consul O'N eill-the "impot foncier, " a
tax on the owner of lands or houses, which need not
further be referred to, excepting to state that all
buildings, whatever their character, are exempt for
the first three years after completion ; that land
reclaimed from river or sea, and drained marshes, are
exempted for twenty-five years, while land t hat has
lain idle for fifteen years, and is planted for vines
and fruit trees, is exempted for twenty years, and for
ten years if put under cultivation for annual crops.
Every person exercising an industry, t rade, or profession is subj ect to the oth er taxes. In t he case
of two of these the lump sum to be collected from
each department is fixed annually by the Minister
of Finance, and this sum is gradually divided down
to the arrQndiseement, then to the commune, then

to the individual taxpayer. On~-the "contribution personnelle et mobiliere " -Is a.ssesse~ upon a
fixed proportion of the rent of all houses ~n the department, and the other- the ~oor a:nd w1ndow tax
- is fixed upon a basis that var1es w1th the population of the commune. To this fix ed unaltera?le
basis are added the "centimes additionels/' whtch
are adjusted according to the demand m~~e upon
t he commune by the departmental author1hes.
I t is the fourth tax, the " imp~ts des pat~ntes, "
which admits of the differentiatiOn to whlCh we
have r eferred. It is really an income-tax on all
industries, or rather an endeavour to t~~ . t?e
profits or what the State regards as the pos~.1biht1es
of profits. Our system of ~xing profits. or Incomes
is probably on a more sat1sfactory basts ; but the
system in France has ad va.ntages for other assessments. The tax is divided into three . parts- the
fixed tax or licence, the tax on equipment (on
the number of employes and workmen or on
machinery), and the. ta~ upon the rent~l value of
premises . Each vanes ~n amount, and 1~ based . on
different data. F or th1s purpose, the mdustr1es,
trades or professions are divided into fo ur classes,
a.s sch~duled. The first, the A Schedule, includes
t raders wholesale and retail, and, a.s may he
imaetin~d sin ce it includes shopkeepers, it compris~s 84 'per cent. of all persons falling within the
tax- 1 339 000 out of a total of 1,581, 000. Again,
the 1600 i'ndustries in t he schedule are divided
into eight classes according t o the importance of
t he industry, the point as to whether the trade
is wholesale or retail being, of course, taken
into account. The tax varies further with the
population of the commune. Thus, a. w.atchmaker
is in the third class, and pays but a th1rd of that
collected from a trader in the first class. In a
to wn of over 100,000 inhabitants he would pay a.
fixed annual licence-tax of 100 francs, which, in
a town of 40,000 inhabitants, would only be
40 francs, while the first-class tradesman would
pay in the larger town 300 francs, and in the
smaller town 120 francs . The idea is that the
la.rg~r the town the greater the turnover.
Of
course, it is easy to conceive of frequent a.gitations
for re-classification on t he part of traders, since it
is difficult to determine which is likely to make the
greater profit, and the only changes made in the
system since 1880 have been in the direction of
relieving the small t rader and manufacturer at the
expense of the greater. In addition to the licence,
or fixed tax indicated, t here is the proportionate
tax on r ental value of premises, to which we shall
refer later.
The second, orB Schedule, includes the members
of what is called '' le ha ut commerce, " bankers,
brokers~ and the like, including twenty-five industries, and in t hese cases the cost of the licence-tax
varies with the population ; and, in addition , a
tax is exacted on each employe over five, the
amount also varying with population.
Stockbrokers and bankers in Paris pay 2000 francs
(80Z. ), with 50 francs per employe; loan office
brokers and dealers in fine diamonds half those
sums. In this schedule, too, are included foreign
steamship agencies, who in Paris pay 300 francs,
and 15 francs per employe; in towns of over
100,000 inhabitants, 250 francs and 12 francs respectively; and so on down to 50 francs in towns
of less than 30,000 inhabitants. This seems a
pretty heavy tax, and suggests the principle of
protection to French shipping companies, more
especially as these r ates are in addition to the
rental value tax.
The Schedule C is the one under which nearly
all manufacturing industries fall, embracing 277,
and here the element of population is not considered, as otherwise it would be easy for a large
manufacturer to create a town sufficient for his
works, and thus pay a minimum rate so far as
population of the district was concerned. The
machinery and the employes become the important
factors in determining t he tax, and the amounts
are most carefully detailed. Perhaps one or two
instances might be given to show the completeness
with which t he law is laid down :
Shipowners-sailing ocean-going ships, 10 centimes per
net ton ; sea~oin g steamer~, 40 centimes; coasting sailing
ships, 5 cent1mes; coasting steamers, 20 centimes.
These rates were reduced to this basis in 1880 to enable
owners to compete against British vessels.
Steel manufacturers, natural and forged, 40 fr. per
smelting oven, rening oven, and puddling oven ; cast>
steel additional, 5 fr. licence and 4 fr. per workman :
cast t~teel Bessemer process, 3 fr. for every convetter of
100 kilog.

'

E N G I N E E R I N G.

214
Tinplates, 5 fr. licence and 4 fr. per workman.
Ironmasters, 40 fr. per refining fire and per puddling
oven; 80 fr. per reheating oven.
Smelting furnaces, 3 fr. per cubic metre capacity of
furnaces, and 4 fr. per workman.
Boilermakers, 5 fr. licence, and 5 fr. per workman.
Shipbuilders, 5 fr. licence and 5 fr. per workman.
Contractors of all public works, 5 fr. licence, and 1 per
cent. of annual receipts.
Generally the licence-tax is small, doubtless for
the encouragement of manufacture, and in some
cases, even where extensive machine tools are employed, only a tax on employes is exacted; in others
on both machines and workpeople. For example, the
cotton-spinner pays 2 fr. per 100 spindles; the
wool-spinner 4 fr. per 100 spindles ; and flax, hemp,
and jute spinners 8 fr. per 100 spindles. These pay
no rate for workmen ; but 4: fr. per head is charged
in the cases of cotton or embroidery thread manufacturerA, who also pay 2 centimes per spindle,
worated manufacturers paying in addition 4centimes
a spindle, and sewing silk manufacturers 6 centimes
per spindle. This diff~rence is probably dictated
by the greater value of the product in the latter
manufacture, allowing for a greater margin of
profit. It is not desirable to enter at l ength into
an analysis of all trades ; suffice to say that for all
purposes the rates are determined with full consideration of the possibilities of profit, and not
according to the extent or value of plant or buildings requisite for making that profit. In some
cases, however, it has been possible to relieve French
industries which compete against foreign manufactures. The fourth schedule includes the liberal
professions.
\Ve have already indicated that the "impot
des patentes'' is divided into three sections-the
fixed tax or licence, the tax on equipments, plant,
or workers, and the proportionate tax. This t hird,
being a rate on rental value, is the heaviest part of
the rate on manufacturers with large works with
expensive m.ac~inery ; ~ut here a~ain the principle
of different1at10n obta1ns. This tax may be a
tenth fifteenth, twentieth, or thirtieth of rental
value' of residence, or a fortieth , fiftieth, or sixtieth
of that of industrial establishments. It varies, not
accordin<>' to district, but according to profession or
trade. The tax of a tenth is only on the most
lucrative professions ; that of a ~fteeJ?th on the
liberal professions ; that of a t~ent1et~ 1s the .n.ormal rate that of a fortieth on 1nd ustnes req uirmg
extensiv~ plant, but yielding re~ativ~ly small pr?fit.
Thus for a spinner, weaver, shtpbmlder, or bollermak~r the tax is one-twentieth the rental value
of residence, and one-sixtieth of that of the works;
while for an ironmaster. steel n1an ufacturer, and
cutlery manufacturer, railroads, &c., one-twentieth
is the rate on dwelling-house, but a fiftie~h .on
works rental value. In t h e rental value 1s Included all machinery, including that which gives
the motive power.

LONDON SOCIETIES.

No. XL.

INSTITCJTION-contin1tecl.
THE absorptive energy of olefia.nt gas for heat,
extraordinary as it was shown to. be ~y D.r.
Tyndall's experimental demonstratiOns gtven 1n
the preceding article (ENGINEERING, vol. lv., page
828), is far exceeded by that of some of the vapours
of volatile liquids.
.
. .
A glass flask was provided wtt~ an a1r-t1gh~ brass
stop-cock. Sulphuric ether .be~ng placed 1n the
flask, the space above the l~qu1d was completely
freed of air by means of an a1r pump. The flask,
with its closed stop-cock, was then attached to the
experimental tube ; the latter was exhausted and
the needle brought to zero. The cock was then
turned on, so that the ether va~our slowly entered
the experimental tube. An ass1sta!lt observed the
gauge of the air pump, and when 1t had sunk an
inch the stop-cock was promptly closed. T~e
galv~nometric defiecti~n consequent on the part.1al
cutting off of t he calorific rays was ~hen noted , a
second quantity of the vapour, suffi.c1eJ?-t to depre~s
the gauge another inch, was then adn:Itted, and 1n
this way the absorptions of five succe~s1ve measu.res,
each possessing within the tube 1 1n. of tens10n,
were determined.
Sulphuric Ether [Ethyl Oxide (C2 Hsh 0]. d'
Ccrrespon mg
Tension in Deflections. Absorption. Absorption by
Inches.
Olefianb Gas.
R oYAL

1
2

64.8
70.0
7 2.0
73.0
73.0

214
282
315
330
330

J~

142
154
163

For t hese te!lsions the absorption of radiant heat

by the vapour of ether is more than twice the absorption of olefiant gas (ethylene C2H 4). Dr. Tyndall
also notes that the successive absorptions approximate more quickly to a ratio of equality. He subsequently reduced the quantity of vapour. k* is a
small flask with a brass cap which is screwed on to
the stop-cock cl. Between the cocks c and c1,
which latter is connected with the experimental
tube, is the chamber M, the capacity of which was
accurately determined. The flask k was partially
tilled with ether, and the air above the liquid
removed. The stop-cock c1 being shut off and c
turned on, the chamber M becomes filled with pure
ether vapour. By turning c1 off and c on, t his
quantity of vapour is allowed to diffuse itself
through the experimental tube, and its power of
absorption determined ; successive measures are
thus sent into the tube, and the effect produced by
each is noted. Measures of various capacities were
made use of, according to the requirements of the
vapours examined.
Sulphuric Ether.-Unit Measure rhth of a Cubic In ch.

Measures.
1
2
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Absorption.
Observed.
Calculated.
5.
4.6
10.3
19.2
24.5
29.5
34.5
38.0
44.0
46.2
50.0

9.2
18.4
23.0
27.0
32.2
36.8
41.4
46.2
50.6

The proportion between density and absorption

holds sensibly good for the first eleven measures,
after which the deviation gradually augments.
Dr. Tyndall surmises that for smaller measures
than 1 b<>th of a cubic inch t he law would be more
rigidly true.
A large number of gases and vapours were
examined in the apparatus, the only variable element being the size of the unit measure ; for with
many substances no sensible effect could be obtained with a unit volume so small as that used in
the case of ether. With bisulphide of carbon, for
example, it was necessary to use as unit measure
fifty times the bulk to render the measurements
satisfactory.
Whether for equal volumes of the vapours at
their marimum density, or for equal tensions as
measured by the depression of the mercurial
column , Dr. Tyndall found that bisulphide of
carbon exercised the lowest absorptive power of all
the vapours he examined. For very ~mall q~anti
tities, a volume of ether vapour, at 1ts maxu~.um
density in the measure, and expanded thence Into
the tube, absorbs 100 times the quantity of radiant
heat intercepted by an equal volume of bisulphide
of carbon vapour at its maximum density.
A very singular phenomenon was repeatedly
observed during the experiments with bisulphide of
carbon. After determining the absorption of the
vapour, the tube was exhausted,.the trace of v~pour
left behind being exceedingly minute. ~ry a1r was
then admitted to cleanse the tube. On again exhausting, after a few strokes of the pump, a jar was felt and
a kind of explosion heard, while dense volu~es of
blue smoke immediately issued from the cylinders.
The action was confined to the cylinders of the
pump, and n ever propagated ba?kwa~ds in~o the
experimental tube. It is only with b1sulph1de of
carbon that this effect takes place. Dr. Tyndall
explained it in the following manner. T? open
the valve of the piston, the gas bene~th 1t must
have a certain tension, and the compressiOn needful
to produce this appears sufficient to ca';lse th~ combination of the constituents of the b1sulph1de of
carbon with the oxygen of the air. The odour of
sulphurous acid is unmistakable amid the f~me~.
Dr. Tyndall tried the effect of com~ress10n 1n a
glass air-syringe with me~al en~s. A; btt of tow or
cotton wool moistened w1th bisulphide of carbon,
and placed in the syringe, emitted a b.right flash
when the air was compressed. By blowmg out th.e
fumes with a glass tube, he repeated the experiment many times with the same piece. of cotton. It
is not necessary even to let the. m01stened cotton
remain in the syringe. If th~ b1t of .tow or c?tton
be thrown into it and out aga1n as qu1ckly as 1t can
be ejected, on c~mpressing the air the lu~inous
flash is seen. Pure oxygen produces a brtghter
flash than atmospheric air.

* See Fig. 1, page 827, June 16, 1893.

lAuG.

18, I 893.

In the case of vapours, Dr. Tyndall found that

the most energetic is that of sulphuric ether, the
least energetic that of bisulphide of carbon. Comparing small volumes and equal tensions, the absorptiveenergy of sulphuric ether vapour is ten times
that of olefiant gas, and ten thousand times that of
oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and atmospheric air.
The idea occurred to Dr. Tyndall that aqueous
vapour in solution in a gas would probably modify
the absorptive power of the gas ; his experiments
led to conclusions of great importance, and finally
to the establishment of the fact that the absorption
of the solar rays by the atmosphere is mainly due
to the watery vapour contained in the air.
On a fair November day, air sent through the
drying tubes produced an absorption of about 1.
Air direct from the laboratory, containing its
aqueous vapour, prouuced an absorption of 15.
It is on rays emanating from a source of comparatively low temperature that this great absorptive energy is exerted; hence the aqueous vapour
of the amosphere acts powerfully in intercepting
terrestrial radiation; and its changes in quantity
produce corresponding changes in climate.
The vast difference between the t emperat ure of
the sun at mid-day and in the evening was shown
by Dr. Tyndall to be mainly due to the comparatively shallow stratum of invisible or aqueous
vapour which lies cFose to the earth. At noon the
depth of it pierced by the sunbeams is very small,
in the evening very great in corn parison.
He also point-ed out that the intense he&t of the
sun's direct rays on high mountains, is not due to
his beams having to penetrate only a small depth
of air, but to the comparative absence of aqueous
vapour at those great elevations.
But this aque:>us vapour, which exercises such a
destructive act ion on the obscure rays, is comparat ively transparent to the rays of light. Hence ~he
differential ac'bion, as regards the heat coming from
the sun to t he earth, and t hat radiated from t he
earth into space, is vastly augmented by the aqueous
vapour of the atmosphere.
Every variation in the amount of aqueous vapour
in the atmosphere must produce a change of climate.
It i.s not necessary to assume alterations in the
density and height of the atmosphere, to account
for different amounts of heat being preserved to
tho earth at different times; a slight change in its
variable constituents would suffice for this. Such
remarks also apply to the carbonic acid diffused
through the air, whilst an almost inappreciable
admixture of any of the hydrocarbon vapours would
produce great effects on the terrestrial rays, and
produce corresponding changes of climate. Such
means, in fact, may have produced all the mutations of climate which the researches of geologists
reveal.
These experiments furnished purer cases of
molecular action than had hitherto been attained
in experiments of this nature. In both solids and
liquids the cohesion of the particles is implicated ;
they mutually control and limit each other. A
certain action over and above that which belongs
to them separately, comes into play and embarrasses
our conception. But in the cases recorded by Dr.
Tyndall the molecules are perfectly free, and we
fix upon them individually the effects which
t he experiments exhibit. Thus the mind's eye is
directed more firmly than ever on those dist inctive
physical qualities whereby a ray of heat is stopped
by one molecule and unimpeded by another.
The radiative power of gases formed the next
branch of Dr. Tyndall's research. The quantity of
light emitted from a flame depends chiefly on the
incandescence of solid matter ; t h e brightness of an
ignited jet of ordinary gas, for example, being
chiefly due to the solid particles of carbon liberate.d
in the flame. Melloni drew a parallel between thts
action and that of radiant heat. He found the
radiation from his alcohol lamp greatly augmented by plunging a spiral of platinum wire into
the flame. He also found that a bundle of wire
placed in the current of hot air ascending from an
argand chimney gave a copious radiation, while
when the wire was withdrawn no trace of radiant
heat could be detected by his apparatus. He concluded from this experiment that air possesses the
power of radiation in so feeble a degree that our
best thermoscopic instruments fail to detect this
power.* Thes~ were. the on~y experiments published upon th1s subJect until Dr. Tyndall made

----- - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -- * '' La Thermoohrose," page 94.

t N G l N E E R t N G.

AuG. 18, 1893.1

those in connection with his research on the absorptive power of gases.
The pile furnished with its conical reflector was
placed upon a stand, with a screen of polished tin
in front of it. An alcohol lamp was placed behind
the screen, so that its flame was entirely hidden by
the latter ; on rising above the screen the gaseous
column radiated its heat against the pile and produced a considerable deflection. The same effect
was produced when a candle, or an ordinary jet of
gas, was substituted for the alcohol lamp.
The h eated products of combustion acted on the
pile in the above experiments, but t he radiation
from pure air was easily demonstrated by placing
a heated iron spatula or metal sphere behind the
screen. A deflection was thus obtained, which,
when the spatula was raised to a red heat, amounted
to more than 60 deg. This action was solely due
to the radiation of the air ; no radiation from the
spatula to the pile was possible, and no portion of
the heated air itself approached the pile so as to
communicate its warmth by contact to the latter.
Re next examined whether different gases possessed different p owers of radiation, and for this
purpose devised the following arrangement : P in
the woodcut, Fig. 1, represents the thermo-electric
pile with its two conical reflectors ; S is a double

Fig.J
p

oL.NI

A
111.1

screen of polished tin ; A is an argand burner, consisting of two concentric perforated rings ; C is a
copper ball, which during the experiments is heated
to redness, while the tube t leads to a gash older
containing the gas to be examined. When the hot
ball C is placed on the burner, it warms the air in
contact with it; an ascending current is thus established, which, to some extent, acts upon the pile.
To neutralise this action, a large Leslie's cube L
filled with water a few degrees above the air in tem~
perature, is placed before the opposite face of the
pile. The needle being thus brought t o zero, the
gas is forced, by a gentle water pressure, through
the orifices of the burner; it meets the ball C
glides along its surface, and ascends in a war~
current, in front of the pile, the rays from the
heated gas gush forth in the direction of the arrows
against the pile, and the consequent deflection of
the galvanometer needle indicates the magnitude
of the radiation.
The results of the experiments are shown in the
following Table; the numbers there recorded marking the extreme limit to which the needle swung
when the rays from the gas fell upon the pile. The
t~ird column gives the deflections due to the absorptiOn of the same gases at a common tension of

. *
5 m.

Radiation.
I nsens1'ble
,
,
,
12 deg.

Absorption.
I nsens1ble
,
,
,
18 deg.

.
A 1r
..
...
...
Oxygen
...
...
Nitrog&n ...
...
Hydrogen ...
...
Carbonic oxide . . .
Carbonic acid
.. . 18 ,,
25 ,
Nitrous oxide
... 29 ,
44
Olefia.nt gas...
... 53 ,
61 ::
Radiation and absorption go hand in h and. The
molecule which shows itself competent to " intercept " a. calorific beam, shows itself competent, in a
proportiOnate degree, to "generate" a calorific
beam. That, in short, a capacity to accept motion
from the e~her, and to ir:npart motion to it, by
gaseous bodies, are correlat1ve properties.
An interesting way of exhibiting both radiation
and absorption is as follows : When the polished
faco of a Leslie's cube is turned towards a thermo__
* All. t_hese experiments, and those which follow, were
made v1s1ble to the large audience in the Royal Institution
\heatre.

electric pile, the effect produced is inconsiderable,

but it is greatly augmented when a coat of varnish
is laid upon the polished surface. Instead of the
coat of varnish, a film of gas may be made use of.
Such a cube, containing boiling water, had its
polished face turned towards the pile, and its effect
on the galvanometer neutralised in the usual
manner. The needle being at 0 deg., a film of
olefiant gas, issuing from a narrow slit, was passed
over the metal. The increase of radiation produced
a deflection of 45 deg. When the gas was cut off
the needle returned accurately t o 0 deg.
The absorption of a film was shown by filling
the cube with cold water, but not so cold as to produce the precipitation of the aqueous vapour of tha
atmosphere. A gilt copper ball, cooled to a few
degrees below the temperature of the atmosphere,
was placed in front of the pile, and its effect was
neutralised by presenting a beaker containing
a lit tle iced water to the opposite face of the pile.
A film of olefiant gas was sent over the ball, and the
gas was found to act as a film of varnish ; it augmented the absorption.
Dr. Tyndall, therefore, established the law that
the order of radiation was the order of absorption.
That any atom or molecule which is capable of
accepting motion from agitated ether, is capable in
precisely the same degree of imparting motion to
still ether.
Until this research of Dr. Tyndall's, notwithstanding the great accessions to the know ledge of
the nature of h eat, the scientific world were quite
ignorant of the atomic conditions on which radiation, absorption, and conduction depend.
In the foregoing experiments the atoms dealt
with were free atoms, both simple and compound,
and in all cases he found that absorption takes place.
The meaning of this, according to the dynamical
theory of h eat, is that no atom is capahle of existing in vibrating ether without accepting a portion
of its motion. \Ve may, if we wish, imagine a
certain roughness of the surface of the atoms which
enables the ether to bite them and carry the atoms
along with it. But no matter what the quality
may be which enables any atom to accept motion
from the agitated ether, the same quality must enable it to impart motion to still ether, when it is
plunged in the latter and agitated. It is only
necessary to imagine the case of a body immersed
in water to see that this must be the case. There
is a polarity here as rigid as that of magnetism.
From the existence of absorption, we may on
theoretic grounds infallibly infer a capacity for
radiation ; from the existence of radiation, we may
with equal certainty infer a capacity for absorption; and each of them must be regarded as the
measure of the other.
pr. Tyndall d emonstrated that great differences
extst am~ng gas~s ~s to ~heir power of absorption,
and precisely similar dlfferences as regards their
power of radiation.
If we inspect the results above recorded, we find
that the '' elementary " gases, hydroaen oxyaen

0
'
0
'
nitrogen, and the "m1xture" atmospheric air,
possess absorptive and radiative powers beyond
comparison less than those of the "compound "
g_ases ; uniting the ~tomic theory with the conceptwn of an ether, this result is exactly what ought
to be expected.
~aking Dalton's idea of an elementary body as
a sin.gle sph~re, ~nd s?pposing such a sphere to be
set .1n ~otwn ~n st1ll ether, or placed without
motwn 1n movmg ether, the con1munication of
motion by the atom in the first instance and the
acceptance of it in the second , must be 'l ess than
when a number of such atoms are grouped together
and move as a system. Hydrogen and nitrogen
"mixed" together produce a small effect when
" h 11

d"
f
'
c emiCa Y urute
to orm ammonia they produce an enormous effect.
Oxygen and hydrogen, which, when mixed in
theiJ; elect~olytic proport~ons, show a scarcely
sensible actwn, when chemtcally combined to form
aqueous vapour, exert a powerful action.
So also with oxygen and nitrogen, which when
mi~ed, as in our atmosphere, both absorb and
radiate feeb~y; 'Yhen uni~ed to form oscillating
systems, as 1n nitrous oxide, have their powers
vast~y augmented. Pure atmospheric air, of 5 in.
tenswn, does not effect an absorption equivalent to
more than deg., while nitrous oxide of the same
tension effects an absorption equivalent to 51 such
de~rees. . H~nce the absorption by nitrous oxide at
this tenswn IS about 250 timea that of air. N 0
fact in chemistry bears a stronger testimony that

2!5
air is a '' mixture " and n ot a '' compound " than
that just cited.
In like manner, the absorption by carbonic oxide
of this tension is nearly 100 times that of oxygen
alone ; the absorption by carbonic acid is about
150 times that of oxygen; while the absorption by
olefiant gas of this tension is 1000 times that of its
constituent hydrogen. Even this enormous action
is surpassed by the vapours of many vola tile liq uids
in which the atomic groups are known to attain
their highest degree of complexity.
Compound molecules present broad sides to the
ether, while the simple atoms do not ; in consequence of these differences, the eth er must swell
into billows when the former are moved, while it
merely trembles into ripples when the latter are
agitated. But another important consideration
remains. Dr. Tyndall points out that all the gases
and vapours whose deportment h e examined are
transparent to light- that is to say, the waves of
the visible spectrum pass among them without
sensible absorption. Hence it is plain that their
absorptive power depends on the periodicity of the
undulations which strike them.
By Kirchhoff it had already been conclusively
shown that every atom a bsor bs in a special dearee
those waves of light which are synchronous with its
?wn periods ?f vibration. Now, besides presentIng broader sides to the ether, the association of
simple atoms to form groups must, Dr. Tyndall
contends, as a general rule render their motion
t hrough the ether more sluggish, and tend to
bring the periods of oscillation into isochronism
with the slow oscillations of obscure h eat, thus
enabling the molecules to absorb more effectually
such rays as he used in his experiments.
Agreement in period alone is not su:ffit}ient to
cause powerful absorption and radiation, the molecules must also be so constituted as to furnish
points d'uppHi to the ether. The heat of contact is
accepted with great freedom by rock-salt, but a
plate of the su~stance, once heated, requires a
great lengt~ of t1me to cool. The radiative power
?frock-salt IS very feeble.* Periodicity can have no
Influence h~re., for_the ether is capable of accepting
and transmittmg 1mpu~ses of all periods, and the
fact that rock-salt requires m ore time to cool than
al?m simply proves that the molecules of the former
gh~e through the ether with comparatively small
r~sistance? and thus continue moving for a longer
t~me; wh1le those of the latter, presenting broad
side~ to the ether, speedily communicate to it the
motwn we call heat. This power of aliding throuah
still ether, possessed by the rock-~alt molecul~s
must, of course, enable the movina ether to alid~
round them, and no coincidence ~f period ;ould
make such a body a powerful absorber.

LITERATURE.

* Professor Ba.lfour Stewart.

E N G I N E E R I N G.

216

time we cannot help thinking that the booked

timing and speed of the best train run by each
company should have been given. Further, we
think some idea. of the amount of express running
should have been indicated. A table giving every
"start to stop" run at 50 miles an hour and over,
would undoubtedly exclude many of our best trains;
at the same time it would give us the creme cle la
creme of English express work. In the present
day, when so much is being said about American
supremacy as regards speed, such a table would be
particularly valuable. 'Ve can point, for instance,
to the Great Northern Railway, which has a
greater nu m her of 50 miles per hour runs than
America and every other country in the world put
t 1gether.
The tables of actual performances would have
been much improved by the addition of a speed
column. Even to a per.:wn well acquainted with
the line and its gradients, it is a matter of considerable difficulty to pick out the good work.
As regards the illustrations, we think the outline
sketches of locomotives a mistake. A fully dimensioned drawing would have been of some use to
the engineer, or an engraving from a photograph
showing engine and tender would have been of
interest to the general reader, but as they stand
they are si m ply valueless. A few illustrations of
the beat main line coach es might well have found
place in such a work ; the descriptions of t he various
rolling stock being decidedly meagre.
Undoubtedly the best feature of the book is the
series of gradient profiles, which are well executed,
and show most clearly the difficulties encountered
by an English locomotive in the shape of stiff banks.
The miles should certainly have boen printed on
the horizontal b ase line, but that is an omission
which can easily be rectified in a future edition.
It is a pity that of all the great lines the Great
'Vestern gradients should have been omitted.
There is a popular idea that the whole of the main
line to Plymouth is practically level ; indeed, Mr.
Pattinson himself falls into the error, for on page
95 we find, ''The line from Bristol to Exeter is
again almost level. " That this is n ot the case will
be understood from the following li~ t of gradients
between Wellington and Whitehall Tunnel :
1. 5 miles
.25 ,
1.10 "
1.25 "
1 ''
. 75 "

1 in
1,
1,
1,
1 ''
1,

200 up
132 ,
103 ,
9l "
81 ''
126 "

A profile of the line from Bristol to Crewe might

also have been added. The finest cross-country
service in England is worked <;> vez: thi~ line,_ and
few realise how much hard chmbmg 1s achteved
by the Severn Tunnel ~xpr~sses.
.
.
An interesting table 1s gtven of servtces to pnncipal towns, and in comparing the times with those
given by Mr. Fo~well ten years a~o, we find several
striking acceleratwns. Glasgow ts nearer London
by 1{ hours ; Perth, 1f hou:s; Aberdeen~ 3 hours
5 minutes Plymouth, 37 mmutes. The Improvements to s~ch towns as Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, and Birmingham are mainly to be found ~n a
more frequent service and better accommodatwn,
the accelerations being in no c~se more. tha~ 15
minutes. In this table we not1ce the ttme gLven
for both London, Chatham, and Dover and SouthEastern to Dover is 2 hour~. It should ~e 1 hour
45 minutes and 1 hour 36 m1nutes respectively.
In the chapter dealing with th~ South_-Ea~tern
Railway a most interesting speed d1agram 1s gLven,
showing the actual speed attained by the H~stings
expresses. One fact stands out most promtn?ntly
-namely, the very low maximum speed attatn.ed.
'Ve find the down train reaches a speed of 60 m~les
an hour once only, and that for a .quarter of a mtl~;
the up train never exceeds 57! ~1les an hour. Th1s
may be considered express runnmg on ~he S?uthEastern, but we can only hope our Amer1can f.r tends
will not imagine such runs are representlve of
English express work.
Where the services are really bad, such as ~he
South-Eastern and Chatham a?d J?ove~, we thmk
Mr. Pattinson has been too lentent m. Ius remark~.
It is only by the vigorous expresswn of pubhc
opinion that these lines can be aroused to a sense. of
their responsibilities. The Great. Wester~ ser~lCe
between London and South vYales ts a c~se tn pmnt.
We find one train to Newport at 42 mtles an hour,
one to Carditl at 41, and one. t.o Swansea. at 38.
Considering the important posthon held by these

towns as business centres, such a state of affairs

can only be described as disgraceful.
We think Mr. Pattinson's remarks in dealing
with the London and North-Western savour somewhat of partisanship ; the good points in which this
line excels receive unstinted praise, but we find
little mention of its failings. \Vhat are we to say,
for instance, of the L ondon and Birmingham service,
with one train only at 45 miles an hour, or LondonLiverpool, which has no train reaching that standard ? Even the Gre~t Western manages to reach
Exeter-{ mile further- in 15 minutes less time.
Nor is Manchester any better treated ; we find, in
fact, that the Great N orthern, with a r oute
14-i miles further, accomplishes the journey in the
same time. This excellent train (the 2 P.l\1.
express, King's Cross) is n ot even mentioned
when dealing with the Great Northern.
How
a company which runs so many admirable trains
in its Scotch service can still continue to serve
Ireland with trains n one of which reach the standard of "express" (40 miles an hour inclusive),
and for which the passenger is mulcted in first and
second class only at express fares, is beyond our
comprehension. Equally unjustifiable is the service between Liv erpool and Birmingham, where,
again, we find no train at 40 miles an h our.
Even the Great vVestern, with a route 13 miles
longer, might well make a bid for this traffic now
that through communication is available via the
Mersey Tunnel.
A class of engine has recently been constructed
at Gateshead for the North-Eastern Railway, of
which no mention is made in "British R ailways. "
They are ordinary high-pressure locomotives, and
are now working the Scotch expresses in place of
the compounds hitherto used. Does this mean the
abandonment of the compound principle ? One
would have been glad of some information on the
subject.
There is one train in Mr. Pattinson's book the
timing of which is most instructive. We refer to
the Great "vVestern Exeter express of 1848. We
find that this train, with an extra stop at Didcot,
actually reached Swindon in two minutes less time
than the ~ ' Cornishman " of 1893. Of cour3e it is
wen known that the train in those days was exceedingly lightly loaded ; but surely it is rather a
hopele. 3 confession of failure to say that increase
in the weight of trains has compelled us to recede
from the position taken up forty-five years ago.

N 0 T E S.
ABSTRACTS OF PATENT SPECIFICATIONS.
THE Patent Office is making a great effort

to
catch up arrears in the matter of abstracts of specifications. For years these have been promised,
but the progress has been slow and fitful. At last,
h owever, a great stride has been made. One
hundred and fifty volumes, covering the years
1877-1883, have been put in the press, and already
forty-five volumes are on sale, at a uniform price
of 9d. Some of these are quite large volumes.
For insta.n0e, Class II., steam engines, runs t o 402
pages, with several illustrations on each page. The
latter, h owever, leave a great deal to be desired in
the matter of quality, but as the abstracts are
merely intended to serve as clues to the contents
of the specifications, and not t o replace them, this
is not an important matter. These volumes
will be of immense use t o inventors, and we hope
will be speedily followed by another issue carrying
the matter up to 1893. It is really the last ten
years that is of the greatest importance to engineers
who are striving t o improve on existing practice.
There is an abridgment class and index key (post
free 1s. 6d.) which gives full particulars as to the
classificA.tion of subjects. Specifications are n ow sold
at a uniform price of 8d., whatever is their size.

TuE

FR~N CH GovERNMENT AND SuBMARINE

TELEGRAPH ENTERPRI SE .

Voices have l'ecently been raised in favour of

the French Government showing more initiative
in the matter of submarine telegraphic enterprise,
in which respect their apathy forms a striking
contrast to the active interest displayed by
England in such matters. The v~rious attempts
which have at times, been made 1n the French
Chamber t~ rouse the national feeling for undertakings of this kind, have been fut~le. In the year
1886 it was thus proposed to brmg about telegraphic connection between th~ coast of East
Africa Madagascar, and Reunton.
No doubt
this ~ould, from a colonial point of view,

[ Auc. 18, 1893.

have proved a most useful connection, but it
fell to the ground, as did the proposed cable between French Guiana, Guadaloupe, and New York,
which latter town has telegraphic connection
with Brest. At the same time the French Government has granted material subventions to English
companies on a number of occasions. Let the
French Government, say the advocates of France,
taking up the matter of colonial telegraphic enterprise, follow the example of England , where a
number of colonial telegraph compa nies are substantially s u baidised, and let h er see that the large
French colonies are brought into telegraphic connection with the mother country through the
medium of French companies.
FAILURES OF CONTIN UOUS BRAKE .

We have before us a paper issued by the Vacuum

Brake Company, Limited, entitled "Extracts from
the Board of Trade Returns on Continuous Brakes
for the half-year ending December 31, 1892, where
the mileage run has been of importance, illustrating t h e faults recorded against automatic and nonautomatic brakes. " It appears to us that the chief
point illustrated is the d1fference in the systems
adopted by the various rail way companies of recording their brake failures. A very few figures will
make this point clear. With the Westinghouse
automatic brake the failures per million miles run
are given as: Great Eastern Railway, 6.6; London,
Chatham, and Dover, 19.2 ; London, Brighton,
and South Coast, 9.5; North-Eastern, 10.6; Caledonian, 4. 7 ; N ortih British, 16. 8. The mileage
varies from 2, 036,102 with the L ondon, Chatham,
and Dover, to 6,313,247 with the North-Eastern.
With the vacuum automatic brakes we find the
f ollowing failures per million miles with the leading
companies ; Great Western, 10.7 ; Midland, .395;
G reat Northern, 4. 7 ; London and South-Western,
5.6; Lancashire and Yorkshire, 7.8; London and
North-Western, 2.6; the mileage varying from
4,998,866 (South-\Vestern ) to 11,117,199 (NorthWestern). The largest users of the simple vacuum
brake are the M etropolitan Railway, with 967,201
miles and five failures ; the South-Eastern (in part),
348,427 miles, and three failures ; and the Dublin,
Wicklow, and Wexford Railway, with 424,095
miles and n o failure.
It is perfectly plain that
these figures are quite unreliable. Why should
the Great 'Vestern have twenty-seven times as
many failures, relatively, as the Midland wi~h the
same brake 1 Both are rich companies, with well
organised establishments t o look after the repairs
of their stor.k, and it is impossible to believe that
there is so much difference in the r esults obtained.
The far more likely explanation is that the word
''failure " is differently interpreted in the two ca~es,
and that the Midland passes over cases as ummportant that find their way into the Great Western
returns.
Under the 'Vestinghouse brake the
neighbouring lines-Caledunian and Glasgow, and
South-Western- show an enormous discrepancy,
the former having 4. 7 failures per million miles, and
the latter 33. It would be well if the Board of
Trade would issue a definition of what is to be
considered a failure, and see t hat it is distribute_d
among the companies' officers, so that some umformity may be introduced into these returns.
REP AIRING !NCANDESCE~T LL\IP.'.

The manufacture of incandescent lamps has

served as an example of the economies gr?wing
with the development of industries. An meandescent lamp past service was formerly deem e~ as
useless, although not as n oisome, as an egg re.ttred
from active business. The rising price of platmum
rendered it worth while for lamp manufacturers to
collect old laxnps, and to separate and crush t he
necks, as preparatory to the separation of the
platinum leading-in wires by washing in a manner
comparable to that in whi eh the platinum 'Yas
originally separated from the natural depostt.s.
The decision of one of the Federal Courts m
the United States sustaining the Edison lamp
patent, also gave a value to destroyed lamps,
as one always has the right to repair a pat~nt
article which has come into his ownE>rshtp ;
and this repairing of Edison incandescent lamps
has become quite an industry. Lamps with broken
filaments are perforated by crushing the end ~f t~e
protruding tip of the lamp, and then revolvmg ~t
rapidly in a lathe while the end of the lamp 1s
heated by a gas blast flame until the glass is soften~d,
and t he centrifugal force assisted by a former tnserted into the orifice, increasing the diameter of
the hole from one-twentieth of a11 inch to about three

..

E N G I N E R I N G.

217
.

fourths of an inch. The r emnants of the old carbon

are cut away and the inside of the lamp carefully
cleaned by special tools. A new carbon filament is
attached by electroplating of copper at its terminals
to tiny copper tubes, about 1 16 in. in diameter and
~ in. in length, which are inserted in t he lamp and
the tubes placed up on the projecting copper a nd
platinum which held the filament orig inally in the
lamp. The contact is made secure by m eans of a
pair of nippers which crush the t ube with later al
corrugations. The end of t h e lamp is then softened
by heat, and the opening r educed t o about i in.,
and sealed to a tube. The lamp is then evacuated
and fi nished in the usual manner. When a lamp bulb
has been broken, t he glass is cut away at the
neck, and a glass tube fused upon it, which is afterwards blown, and the carbon filament inserted in
t he method described. It is estimated that over
10,000 lamps per day are being thus repair ed in
the U nited States, consuming n ot only all the
available breakages, but their demands are levying
up on stray barrels and boxes of old lamps which
have been broken in the pa5t and not thrown away,
but stored in sheds a nd attics in accordance with
t hat prudent New England principle which ch ecks
the d estruction of anything which may b e cons idered to cor,tain the p ossibility of possessing a
value at som e future time.
T HE C HIOAOO EXHIBITIO~ .

There can, we imagine, be n ow n o d oubt that the

Chicago Exhibition has been ~ great disappointnlen t to its projectors, so far as its financial results
are concerned. M ost of the lines centring at
Chicago have d one only moderately well during
the last few weeks. Th e r evenue of the Chicago,
Burlington, and Quincy for June only amounted
to 3,292,679 dols., as compared with 3,326,295
dol~ . in June, 1892, while for the six months
ending J un e 30 this year the r eceipts collected
wer e 18,976,008 dols., as compared with 18,236,839
dols. in t he first h alf of 1892. The r evenue of the
Chicago, Mil waukee, and St. P a ul in July was
781,518 d ols., as compared with 868,015 dols. in
July, 1892, while for the seven m onths ending
July 3 1, 1893, the aggregate collection was
18,863,718dols. , as compared with 18,389, 729dols.
in the corr esp onding p eriod of 1892. Th e r evenue
of the Chicago and North-vVestern in June was
2,912,244: dols., as compared with 2,970,238 dols.
in June, 1892, while for t he six months ending
June 30 this year t h e aggregate collection was
14,743,984 dols., as compared with 14,863, 196 d ols.
in th e corresponding period of 1892. The revenue
of the Chicago, Rock I sland, and Pacific in July this
y ear was 1,542, 145 dols., as compared with
1,475,417 in .July, 1892, while f or t h e first seven
m onths of this year the aggregate collection was
10,536,670 dols., as compared with 9,557, 015 dols.
in the corresponding period of 1892. The Chicago,
St. Paul, Min neapolis, and Omaha acquired in
July this y ear 655,385 dols., a s compared with
768,987 dols. in June, 1892, while the aggregate
collection for the first six months of this year was
3,866,271 dols., as compared with 3, 985,465 dols.
in t he corresponding period of 1892. The Chicago,
Burlington, and N orthern earned 167,204 dols. in
June this year, as compared with 152,983 dols. in
June. 1892, while the aggregate collection for t he
first six m onths of this year amounted t o
1,177,265 dols. as compared with 971,862 d ols. in
the corresponding period of 1892. In some cases
it will be seEm that there has been a moderate
advance in revenue, but not a t all equal t o
what might have been expected. The fact is the
Exhibition has had t o contend with a period of
great financial and commercial d epression b oth in
Europe and in th e United States. As regards
American depression, it is probably attributable to
a variety of causes . I n the first place, wheat ,
maize, and cotton have all been selling at comparatively unremunerative prices. This observat ion applies especially t.o wheat, and the effect upon
t he N or lih-W estern States has been undoubtedly
chilling. In the next place, the price of silver h as
proved so unre .n unerati ve of late that there has been
a great " shutting d own " of mines in the American
silver districts. In the third place, there has been
a widespread uneasiness as t o the stability of banks
and commerical and financial h ouses. All these
a dverse influen ces have, of course, t old upon the
Chicago Exhibition.

tects by Mr. H. vV. Burrows ; a short a~stra?t of

the principal points brought forward 1s g1ven
below. As regards t h e methods usu ally used for
es timating the quality of a stone, the examination of
old buildings is n ot, Mr. Burrows s tates, alwa~s
satisfactory, as there is sometimes a difficulty 1n
making certain of the identity of the stones con1pared . Coming t o the m o r e d etailed examinatio~s
sometimes made, the crushing stre ngth, h e states, 1s
nearly always i n excess of requirements, and hence is
r elatively unimportan t. The absorp tion t est g ives
a fair indication of the power of a ston e to resist
frost, and in stones of t h e same class is also a
criterion of the crushing strength, which appear s
t o b e higher the less t h e percentage of water
absorbed.
More satisfactory r esults are, h owever, to be obtained by subjecting the stone, whilst
th or oug hly moist, t o the action of a freezing
mixture, repeating t he operation several times, and
ascertaining the weight lost from the block. The
specific g ravity of a stone is sometimes h eld to be
proportional to the strength, but experiment
proves t his assumption to b e inaccurate. Ch emical
analysis, taken alon e, is a very unsatisfactory test.
The p oint to which att ention is most us ually
directed is the presence of silica, the infer ence
being that the hig h er the proportion of this element
the m ore durab le the stone. 'l'his, h o wever, is
far from being the case, as it would lead t o the
assumption t hat all saudstones a re better than
limest on es, or even than g ranite.
The really
important p oint is the way in which the ston e
is buil t up.
In one case a stone may consist of grains of sand cemented t ogether by a
calcareous matrix, and in another of grains
of lime in an imper vious matrix of s ilica. In the
former case t h e p ercentage of silica m ay b e
very hig h, and in the latter very low, but wh en
exposed to t h e weat h er th e calcareo us matrix of
the first dissolves away, leaving the particles of
silica exposed ; those which project are undermined, and finally fall off, ex posing a fresh layer
of carbonate to t h e action of the des tructive agents.
In the second case the carbonate of lime is entirely protected from t he weath er by its unalterable coating of silica, and the stone should weat h er
well. As regards limestones, the structure of the
stone is very impor tant, as a crystalline stone
may wea th er well, whilst a n amorphous stone of
similar ch e mical composition may r apidly disintegrate.
When t he crystals are calcite, the
stone weathers better than when they are arragonite. In short, the state of aggregation of the
ston e is t h e best criterion of its durability, and
this internal structure is best ascertained by
examining thin transparent sedions by the micr oscope. By the use of polarised ligh t a good estimate
of the ch emical composition of the stone can be
m ad e at the same t ime, the particles of quartz,
calcite, &c. , being r eadily disting uished. It is
thus p ossible t.o ascertain whether the matrix is
calcareous or silicious, a point which, as already
mentioned, has an important bearing on the
weathering qualities of the material.

WICK HARBO UR.

R eport by Sir ALEXANDER RENDBL, K.C.I.E., M. Inst.
C.E., on vVick Harbour.
~"'oR the information of thE' P ublic Works Loan Board
who have lent 50,000l. to the vVick Harbour trustees Si;
Alexander R endel has examined and reported on' the
works recently executed at Wick Harbour, and we feel
sure .many of our re8:ders will be. interested. in the very
deta1led and exhausttve report whtch we give below :

" Wick and P ulteney Harbour.~.

" 8, Great Georgestreet,
" Westminster, S. W., July 10, 1893.
" Sir,-! duly received your instructions of the 7th
uit_ in respect of these harbours, and availed myself of
the next ensuing spring tides to inspect them on the 14th
and 15th ult. I ha ve nvw to report upon my instructions
as follows :
" '1. On the works which have been executed since
the date of my la.st report, and whether such works have
been well and properly executed, and in accordance with
that report. '
"';l'he works which have been executed since the date
of ~y last report (May, 1887) are (1) the reconstruction of
the mner or harbour wall of the north pier and the completion of the inner wall and attendant works of the south
pier, .at a total ~ost of 16,870l. ; (2) the deepening by
dredgmg of the mner and outer harbours atl a cost of
17,335t. ; (3) the construction of the bridge across the
water of Wick, known as the harbour traffic bridge, ab a
THE ExAMI NATION OF BuiLDING SToNE.
cost of 1186L. ; and (4) a shed and some piling at the end
An interesting paper on this subject was r ecently of
the north pier at the cost of 964l. To these sums must
read bc f..~re the R oyal Ins titute of British Archi- be added ll80l. for engineering, or about ~ per cent. on

the cost of the works, so that the tc;>tal expenditure since

my last report including a small Item of 90l. for some
work at the so~ th pier head, has been 37,6271.
"In my report of 1887, I suggested that the sborew~rd
half of the north pier should be reconstru<?t~d on a hne
consid~rably north ward o~ i ts present positt~n, so as to
increa,se the area of the mner harbc;>u~, .w h10h the pr<?
posed new walls would somewhat dimtmsh, and I estimated the additional cost of doing so ~t ll,OOOL. The
trust ees WE're at first favourable to th1s proposal; but
finding that their means w~uld probably not be eq~al to
it, they have re-wa..lled the mner fac~ of t~e ,north. p1er on
a line pa.raUel, fro.t;n ~nd to end, ~o 1ts orJt:rtnal hne, the
new wall being bUJlt JUSt ~n~ugh 1n fron~ ot the old '!all
to gi ,.ea considerable a~d1t10n to. the w1dth of the p~er,
which was previously m con ven~ently n~~row. Takmg
into account tho depressed financial conditiOn of the port,
the trustees have acted prudently, though I consider the
diminution of the water area of both harbours which the
plan adopted has invol ved to be a loss which somewhat
detracts from its value.
"I carefully exam ined down to the level of low water
the faces of all the walls which have been executed since
1884, and found them to be, so far as I can judge from
such an examination, in excellent order. Belo w low
water I am assured that all the works have been examined
frequently by a di ver, and that the concrete of which
they have been exclusively built below low water has
always been found in a perfect condition. Therefore in
this harbour there is, so far, no reason to fear decay by
the chemical action of the sea water on cement, nor do I
think it is to be feared in future, not only because the
general physical conditions of the harbour and its works
are unfavourable to such action, but the concrete having
been made with an unusually large amount of cement
(1 of cement to 2~ of sand and stone), is very impervious
to water. Above low water of neap tides th e new walls
are composed of Caithness flagstones laid without mortar,
which makes very strong, good work. A shed has been
built at th e outer end of the north pier, which is, I should
say, well worth its cost-about 456t. - to the general trade
of the port.
'' As regards the deepening of the two harbours, I
sounded over them, and can affirm the accuracy, speaking generally, of th e plans sent to your Board by the
trustees, with th eir letter of May 4last. Both harbours
have now a depth of 8 ft. at low water of spring tides
over th e greater part of the area, which can, in the
present state of their walls, be deepened with safety.
" The only other work which I need refer to is the
~ridge across ~he ri ver. This bridge, w~ich has an openmg span of 3o ft., has been P.xecuted m a satisfactory
manner.
" '2. On the cost of the several work~ executed and
whether the cost has exceeded or been within the' esti
mate, and the money judiciously expended.'
"In r espect to the walling, the length of the new inner
wall of the north pier being about 1450 ft., its cost has
be~n about .lH. per !oot run, ~xclus~ve of engineering. I
est1mated Its cost m 1S87, mcludmg contingencies, at
lll. 10s. per foot run. The cost of the wall has therefore
been rather less than my estimate.
" As to the deepening, I stated in my report of
1887 that the quantity of material which mu~ t be
dredged to give ~he h~rbours a depth all over of 8"ft. of
low water of sprmg t~des would b.e .160,000 cubic yards of
clay ~nd bould~rs, whtch, the requ1~Ite plant being already
proVIded, I estimated would cost, mcluding an allowance
of 15 per cont. for contingencies and engineering 23 OOOL
O! 2s. lO~d. per . cubic yard. According to my c~lcul~~
t10ns, th~ quanttty removed from the harbours up to the
present t1me has been about 130,000 cubic yards. The
sum ex pended on this deepening is stated to have been
17,355l. T~e cost J>e~ cubic yard has therefore been about
2s. 9d., wh10h agam 1s less than my estimate.
''The brid~e over the river appears to have been constructed at about its estimated coat.
. "It would seem, ther~fore, that the estimates I gave
1~ my last report, wh10h I should observe wer e much
htgh~r than those of t~e trustees, have not been exceeded ;
and Judged by my estimates, by the condition of the new
walls, and by the de~th in the. h.a rbours, the money laid
out upon them has m my opmton been judiciously expended.
"' 3. On the further works which are stated to be neces
sary f?r the cc;>mpletion of the harbour, and as to the
necesstty and Importance of all or part of such further
works, and the order in which such works should be
executed, and the cost thereof. '
"The principal works required for the completion of
~he harb~urs are the re-wal~ing of th e three faces of the
Jetty wh10h separates the mner from the outer harbour
and of the so?th a~d west sides of the inner harbour:
~bout 2200 ft. hnealm all, the completion of the deepenmg of the harbours to 8 ft. at low water of spring tides a.
small a!llount of re-walling at the end of the north pi~r,
and a hghth~use at the end of the south pier. These
works are ~st1mated by th~ trustees t o cost in the whole,
on the bas1s ~f pas~ experience and inclusive of 10 per
ce~,t. for contmgen01es, the sum of 29,640l.
But the trust ees, though desirous to complete their
scheme, do not ask for means to undertake the whol~ of it
at once.
"They only put forward as urgent the re-walling of the
west and north fa~es of the jetty, and of the south and
wes~ faces of the mn~r harbour-that is to say, the corn
plet10n of t~e r~-wall.mg of the inner harbotH' and of the
p~sage leadmg n;1to 1t f~om the outer harbour, together
With the ~eepenmg whtch such re-walling will permit.
They constder also as urgent the removal of some rock in
the so~th-eaat angle of t~e outer harbour which inter
feres wtth the entrance to ~t from the sea., the completion
of the end of the north p1er, and the co::struotion of a,

E N G I N E E R I N G.

218
lighthouse on the south pier. Their estimate for the
whole of these works is 13,070l.
"In the present condition of the fishing trade the
trustees are no doubt wise in nob asking for means to
complete the re-walling of both harbours at once; a.n d
the works which they desire to execute now, completing
as they will the quays and the deepening of the more
valuable because more sheltered of the two harbours, and
the perfecting of the sea entrance, are in my opinion
undoubtedly those which should be executed first.
In respect to th e works included in the estimate of
13,070l. , it is proposed to take down both of the jetty
wallFI, the lower parts of which are in bad condition, and
to rebuild them on their present sites with a concrete
ba~e np to a little below low-water mark, and with Caithness stone masonry laid without mortar from thence to the
level of the quay, like the new north pier wall. The
walls on the south and west sides of the old harbour are
not to be disturbed. But the south quay being very
narrow is to be widenad 10ft. by a timber wharfing, and
a row of sheet piling is to be driven at the foot of the
west quay wall. By these means it is exoected that the
deepening of the harbour may be carried up to the quays
without danger to their walls.
"As regards cost, experience shows, I think, that, including engineering and contingencies, the cost of the
n ew walls ought not to be taken at less than l ll . 10s. per
foot lineal of wall ; and the sea worm is so active at Wick
that the sheet-piling at the foot of the west harbour wall
ought, in my judgment, to be of green heart, and not, as
the trustees propose, of creosoted pine. Moreover, it is
not absolutely certain that p1ling can be used, for if the
clay on which the wall is built should turn out to be full
of boulders, concrete and masonry mar be necessary as
elsewhere. I should therefore estima.te 1ts cost, including
contingencies, &c., at 6l. a foot run, instead of 3l. 10s. On
the other hand, I think the sum the trustees take for the
deepening of the harbours should be sufficient to complete
that of the inner harbour, and to do nearly all that can
be done in the outer harbour with safety to its older
walls. I think also that all of the rock in the outer harbour which is a danger should be removable for lOOOl. ,
and that the other works may be executed for th e sums
named for them.
"My estimate, therefore, for the works now proposed
would be 16, OOOl., or about 23 per cent. in excess of that
of the trustees; but the difference between our estimates
is largely due to the omission from the trustees' estimate
of any allowance for contingencit:~s and engineering,
which seems unintentional, because they have allowed
10 per cent. for contingencies only in their estimate for
the completion of both harbours, vide their letter to you
of May 4 last.
"I shall observe upon th e necessity for further works
in treating the next head of my instructions. In respect
to the order in which those which I estimate to cost
16,000l. should be carried ont, I think that the completion of the inner harbour should take precedence of the
works in the outer harbour, and that, if any works are to
be left out of the scheme, those of the outer harbour may
be omitted with the least disadvantage. But in respect
to those in the inner harbour I can only say that the rewalling would be useless without the deepening, and the
deepening impossible without the re-walling, and that
both are so necessary in my judgment to the trade of the
port, that I should hope that fnnds for the whole of them
would be forthcoming.
'' '4. As to the benefits to be derived from sue:h works
a.nd the probable increase in the harbour revenue in their
completion.'
"The works already executed enable boats of the
largest size to pass freely between the sea and the harbours at all times of the tide, and in all weathers, except,
perhaps, for a short time at dead low water of low spring
tides. But at low water the boats can at present only
get up to the quay of the north pier, the wall of that quay
being the only on~ which has been yet rebuilt. They
can only approach or leave the other quays for from six
to eight hours at each tide, and have to lie aground alongside of them at low water, sometimes receiving damage
from banging on boulders. From these causes much of
the work which has been already executed is only partially fruitful. Those now proposed, completing, as they
will, the inner and more valuable of the two harbours,
will, in great measure, though not altogether, remedy
this defect.
" I have in previous reports enlarged on the value of
the scheme on which the Wick harbours have been reconstructed. I need only say here tha.t, in my opinion, but
for the works which have been already executed, the
fishing tra.~e would not hav~ maint~ined itself at all at
Wick durmg the depresston which has for some
y_ears attended it; and the decay of the fishing trad~ at
Wick means the decay of Wick itself. Moreover, the
improvement of the port has not only been the cause of the
retention of its herring fishery, but, in combination with
the railway, has made the now very important white or
winter fishery. It has also enabled the various other
trades of the port to be carried on under more favourable
conditions by the facilities it affords for steamers, many
of them of considerable size, which have now completely
taken the pla.c.e at Wick of the sailing vessels of former
days, ~nd which entered the harbours no less than 272
times m the year 1892
"The revenue which the proposed works will produce is
of course speoulati ve. All I can say is that, in my opinion,
the bulk of the present revenue of the port i~ ~ue to the
improvements of the last ten years, and that 1t tB reasonable to expect ab least as good a result f~om the works it
is proposed to execute as from those wh1ch have already
been executed, because the whole of the works still to be
executed will be direct producers of revenue.
" ' 5. As to the annual cost of the dredging necessary

[Auc. 18,1893.

to maintain a depth of 8 ft. ab low water in the portions

of the harbour now proposed to be dredged. '
'' I do not think the harbours are liable to deposit to
an extent which will ever require for its removal a serious
portion of their revenue. The only deposit which need,
I think, be seriously considered is that which takes place
durin~ the spring of the year, in consequ~nce of the then
preva1ling winds, just inside the end of the south pier.
I estimated the cost of removing this deposit in my
report of 1887 at 150l. a year, and I find that the average
cost since that time has been less.
"Practically this deposit presents no difficulty beyond
the nec>essity of watchfulness in the spring and timely
removal, and I should nob be surprised to find as time
goes on that the sand pump dredger will take the place
with advantage of the Priestman's grab now used for the
purpose; but the cost of the removal is too small to justify
a material expenditure in new plant and experiments.
"I have only further to observe that I was glad to find
that the trustees had found a hirer for the dredger which
they purchased some years ago, and that there is good
ground for thinking that this machine will prove a valuabl~ asset when the works at Wick are completed.
"I return the pa_pers sent t o me with my instructions.
" I am, Sir, yours very obediently,
(Signed)
" A . M. RENDEL."

FEED-WATER HEATER.
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SIR,-With reference to the letter of Mr. C. Humpbrey
Gilbert in your issue of the 11th inst., and the question
of economy of fuel or otherwise, and increase or decreaEe
S . S . " N 0 RT H AN G ll A ~~

April 11th. /883.

TAKEN WITH HEATER WORK/NB.

Steam 80lhs. Vac. 23~ . Revs. 58. M ea n Press 4/2. /.H. P. 433 54.

Weather fine.

Fig. 1.

Scale~
/

''\.

'\(_--~--================~
- ----~
April /I th, 188;}
TAKEN WITH HEATER WORJ(ING.

Mean preos.875 Yac. 23}2. Rev.s 58 Wheel E tums s/Jul in. Malnsl.op
wlve .3 turn,:, open !ntermed1ate & throttle fUll open C(1,7SUmptlon 16 .4
~M per da,r. !.H.I'. .348 '7. Com/Jmed I./I. P. 782'24. Temp: Heater 187;
Hotwell t4r

F~.z .

Scale.ho

WITHOUT HEATER

April 12th. 1889.

Steam 7.9/hs. Vac. 2Ji . Rev$. 51~. /dean Pre6s. 4()8. .J.H.P. 4225
Weather fine

Fig.3.
,------........
Scale ~o

2. 35! revolutions per minute with, as against 34 revolutions without.

3. 320 deg. Fahr. temperature of feed with beater, as
against 140 deg. }"'ahr. when heater nob used.
4. Certainly less coal used.
We have also diagrams, copies of which we inclose,
taken from engines at sea, one day with and one day
without heater, showing increased power when using
heater, and at same time lessened coal consumption and
better all-round results.
With regard to the temperature of feed being necessarily limited, on our system it is entirely a question of
first cost ; if the purchaser will pay for the machine, we
will guarantee to supply one capable of raising the temperature of the water to within 5 per cent. of the temperature of the steam, and have done this in many cases.
One other important function performed by our beaters
is the satisfactory prevention of the passage of grease to
the boilers, entirely stopping the inj ury caused by grease
and the corrosive acids always accompanying it.
Faithfully yours,
JOHN KIRKALDY.
41), West India Dock-road, London,
August 14, 1893.

THE INVENTOR OF GUTTA-PERCHA

COVERED WIRE.
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SIR,-The letter from Mr. A. Siemens in your issue of
July 21 puts the facts at issue in a. wrong and uncertain
light, as the impartial reader of the correspondence will
perceive. But the astounding piece of information that
the patents mentioned by me "have nothing whatever
to do with the use of gutta-percha for insulating wires"
cerhinly demands correction. The facts are these :
In 1845 Mr. Danchell applied for a Prussian patent for
covering wire with gutta-percha., and made a machine
which he worked before the Prussian Patent Commission,
of which Mr. E. W . Siemens was then a member.
On February 22, 1846, Bewley filed and thus published
his British patent specification No. 10,825, which clearly
describes a machine for making gutta-percha tubing and
for covering tubing with guttapercha, and which obviously can be used also for covering wire therewith.
On October 27, 1848, Barlow and Foster filed and pub
lished their British patent specification No. 12,136, which
describes and illustrates a machine for covering and
insulating " telegraph wires."
On March a, 1849, Ricardo filed and published his
patent specification No. 12,262, wherein is described the
manufacture of " covering and insulating several telegr~ph wires" at the same time with gutta-percba.
On October 23, 1850, Mr. E. W. Siemens filed and pub
lished his patent specification No. 13,0G2, wherein is de
scribed and shown a machine, professedly an improved
one (being, in fact, an improvement on Bewley's aforesaid
machine), for covering telegraph wire with gutta-percha..
I challenged Mr. A. Siemens to produce proof of Mr.
E. W. Siemens having made a machine for covering
wire with gutta-percba before 1847, in which year Mr.
E. W . Riemens is stated to have done something in this
connection, but no reply is forthcoming, but merely the
vague assertion that he has claimed to be the first to
suggest the use of gutta-percha for insulating wire. A
suggestion is no invention.
Yours obediently,
Eu.EN H AHN DANCHELL.

SCREW PROPULSION WITH NON

REVERSIBLE ENGINES.
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
Sm,-Kindly permit me to note that, it being lately
necessary to dock the Petrel for painting, after many
months' 13ervice, my reversing pro~eller was then opened
out, and everything connected w1th it was found in as
good order and condition as when she was first floated.
The screw continues t.o run very satisfactorily, and the
craft can still be inspected by appointment.
Your obedient servant,
RoBEBT M cG LASSON.
Selburst, S. E., August 14, 1893.

1852A

April IZ th, 1883.

WITIIOV T !fEATER.
Mean press 8.SC Vac. 23~ . Revs. 57~. W/Jeel 2 turns shut tn
Mam stop valve .J turns open. lntermed/ate & throttle lVII open.
Consumption ITJ. I.H.P. .340. Combmed /.11. I! 76'2'5. llotwell I.J3.

Fig. 4.

Scale,/eo
1852 8

SHIPS' RUDDERS.
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SIR, -I have read in your isaue for last week the de
scription of H. M.S. Theseus, and also the account of the
steering gear. The rudder is a beautiful instn1ment,
and represents the evolution of long ages. The question
will come to be asked, howover, whether some classes of
vessels have not outgrown it, When single-screw ships
are backed, the action of the rudder is more or less neutralised, and when twinscrew vessels are backed with both
screws, the same evil is present. In ENGINEERING of the
21st ult., you kindly inserted a short letter in which I
suggested the use of hydraulic jets for manreuvring,
with the retention of the screw for main propulsion. A
ship with twin screws and four hydraulic jets, provided
that the latter were sufficiently powerful, could be steered
by a rudder of very manageable proportions. Would it
be too bold to suggest the abolition of the rudder alto
gether ? The use of hydraulic jets might have avoided
theHowe, Utopia, and other disasters, caused by currents
or low speed of ship.
Yours faithfully,
August 16, 1893.
T EMERAIRE-BARFLECR.

of power from using feedheaters, I do not either call in

question or vounb for the ideal results said to be obtained
by M. Normand, of Havre, but can only say that our
"Compactum " system of taking steam from the boiler
di?ect shows that a very consid6rable gain is attained, and
this is proved by our having sold over 930 heaters of this
type, fitted up in connection with every type of marine
and land work. We have hundreds of reports testifying
to this gain, accompanied by r~peat orders.
A lviON1.' BLANC OnsERVATORY.-An observatory is ap
The trial of the heater in the s. s. Oriole shows :
1. A working steam pressure available of 97 lb. with proacbing completion on Mont Blanc. It occupies an
heater at work, as against a maximum attainable of altitude of 15,781 ft. above the level of the Mediterranean.
Its coet is estimated at 12,000l.
92lb. without it.

E N G I N E E R I N G.

AuG. 18, 1893.]

---

P l T L V E R I S E R.

AND

DISINTEGRATOR

CYCLONE

THE

CONSTRUCTED BY THE CENTRAL CYCLONE COMPANY, _ LIMITED, LONDON.

Fig .2 .

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rotating s~ar in this case is o_bv_iously subjecte.d .t? a

high cent'1'1fugal stress. To ehmmate any poss1b1hty
of accident, the design is so carried out that the stress
per square inch does not exceed 1.5 tons when the
maximum load is applied .
The bearings are specially constructed for the application of Straker's patent automatic circulating and
filtering lubricators, by which means the spindles are
always flushed, a. pint of good viscous lubricant sufficing
for a week or more.
The cyclone pulveriser (Figs. 3 and 4) made by the
company is a machine working on the same principle
wit h somewhat altered construction, and with the application of a separating hood and exhauster, instead
of the circular top employed in the disintegrator. Its
special use is the reduction of suitable solids to an impalpable condition and grading at the same operation,
without the use of any graders, sieves, meshes, &c.
By its adoption, products are said to be obtained
which, in the ordinary way, would be the result of
levigation. The machine offers special facilities for
it s erection on the dustless system, the air generated
by the exhauster returning through the truncated
spout into the machine, where a strong induced suction
facilitates the circulation.
The principle of the separation hood will be easily
understood by reference to the engraving. The grist
is flung up within range of the exhauster, which sucks
away all of the required size and weight, the residue
falling on the incline, back into the machine chamber
for further reduction. This process is continuous, and
t he high suction draught induced by the star keeps all
passages clean, and, to a large extent, mitigates t he
objP.ctionable clogging with damp substances. The exhauster discharges into any suitable chamber of sheet
iron, steel, canvas, wood, &c. , or a collector may be
used. The speeds of these m3.chines vary from 3000 to
1200 revolutions per minute, and the destructhe
velocity attained is from 15,000 t o 19,000 ft. per
minute.

. r-:
":<

INDUSTRIAL NOTES.

,.c.

------------------ ---4 I
I~

. ............. .......................................... - .... -->~

our account of the Royal A gricultural Society 's

Show at Chester we called attention t o the new form of
mill now made by the Central Cyclone Company, Ltd.,
9 and 11, Fenchurch-avenue, London. We now illu strate
on this page, in Figs . 1 and 2 a disiutegrator, and in
Figs. 3 and 4 a pulveriser. The disintegrator is claimed
to be the largest machine of that type ever con structed.
The over-all dimensions are 7ft. 6 in. by 6 ft . 3 in. high,
and its capacity varies from 5 to 7 tons per hour,
according to the fineness of the grist required.
The spindle is of 3!in. mild steel, and carries the
cast-steel boss into which the grinding arms fit, the
whole mass weighing 13 cwt. These grinding arms
form the portions of the machine most liable to wear,
and consequently renewals are from time to time neces-

sary. The renewals are ~imply effected by disengaging

the cotters which secure the arms, and are done in a
few minutes ~ithout unshipping the mill.
Six sizes of these machines are made, the smallest
outputting 3 cwt. per hour, and the largest as stated
above. The system is well known as attrition grinding, the work effected being due to the high velocity
attained by the rotating star. The arms driYe the
material round at an enormous speed, and beat it
between thE' mselves and the hardened plates with
which the sides and periphery of the mill are lined,
until it becomes small enough to fall through the grating at the bott om, when it escapes.
An important factor in the construction of all
machines of high velocities is that of safety, and the

TnE coal crisis still overshadows all other industrial questions; indeed, to a large extent, all other
industries are affect ed by it. Some persons had
thought, a.nd even predicted, that newer developments would have been manifest ere now in connection with the strike. Bnt none have occurred
of a notable character. The course has been run
much on the lines laid down at the Birmingham
conference, with just those deviations "'hich were
expected by the trade union lead ers, who were well
versed in the tactics of labour disputes. The total
number of men out is about equal to the first estimates- perhaps just a little over, because more of the
\Yelsh miners have t aken part in it than had been
expected. But Durham and Northumberland stand
precisely where they were. They gave forma) notice
of an advance, which has been refused, but they will
not strike under existing circumstances and conditions. A writer in the N ewcastle Chronicle has

E N G I N E E R I N G.

220
calculated the weekly cost and losses involved in the
s trike while it lasts, upon the basis of the number of
pits idle, and of miners out of employment in consequence. This estimate was a good deal canvassed by
the House of Commons in the lobbies and smokingrooms, and the consensus of opinion on the part of
coa.lowners and miners' representatives, aud others,
was that the calculation was a. good and proximate one,
so far as the facts could be ascertained. The estimate
is : Loss in wages to miners. 450,000l.; to coalowners,
80,000l. ; to railways and canals, l45,000l. ; to shipping, l65,000l. ; to iron and steel works and factories,
&c., 420,000l. ; to consumers of coal generally by rise
in price, 250,000Z. ; aggregate loss, 1,510,0001. weekly.
To coalowners with stocks unsold at the date of the
strike there would be a. gain ; but in most cases the
coal was sold forward under contract. The coal
merchants will be the greatest gainers ; they will
benefit to the full extent of the enhanced price, and
that, too, with no corresponding responsibility or
future liability. So fa.r, therefore, the miners' strike
has benefited just the class which owes them no allegiance, and provides them with no ret urn in the shape of
wages, except indirectly, as the vendors of the material
brought to the surface, and to whom a rise or a fall in
price a t the pit is of little consequence, as they get
their supplies at the lowe3t rates and sell them at the
highest, the market price being regulated by them
from day to day .

for two weeks, and the men threatened to effect a compromise in their own way on t he Lest terms they
could make. No decisive action was taken, and perhaps the threat will not be carried out, as strike pay
begins this week.
In the Yorkshire dis tricts the men are loyally supporting the federation. Some 12,000 to 13,000 men
employed at thirty-five Yorkshire collieries came out
before the end of last week ; t heir notices bad not
expired at an earlier date. N early the whole of the
pits in the coun ty of York are now idle, and the pay
in the first week will amount to over 35,000l. for this
county alone.
everal of the colliery owners have
appealed to the men to continue at work at the old
rates of wages, but the men have refused. There is,
h owever, a large number of non-union men, and their
action will depend upou t he attitude of the union as
regards strike pay.
The condition of affairs in Sout h Wales is t he most
serious of all. The men are under contract, and yet
many thousands of them have ceased work. It was
thought that the recent small advance, if only 1i per
cent., would induce the men t o resume work, and the
hewers would have done so, but the hauliers refused
t o work. The total n umber out in the valleys of the
outh \Vales district exceeds 30,000 men, The acute
divergence of the federation men and the sliding scale
sections, as represented by .Mr. W. Abraham, :M. P .,
and :Mr. Brace respectively, will account for the utter
disorganisation of the men, and their refusal to obey
For all practical purposes Durham and N orthum her- the mandate of the union. The recent libel action, in
land are in the same boat. They work together just as which ~fr. Brace was cast in 500l. damages to Mr. W.
in the daya of the National Uniou, before the federa- Abraham, M. P. , has not mended matters, but the
t ion stepped in t o disturb the harmony. Having rever3e. The fear now is that actions for breach of
joined the federation, they were bound to car ry out contract may follow, especially as some outrages have
the resolutions of the Birmingham conference in so occurred at one or two of the pits, wagons and other
fa.r as giving in the notices of an advance in wages. things having been thrown down the shafts. This
This was done. The advance was refused. Then came method of warfare will not help, but retard, a settlethe t est question, 'Vill they strike? The ballot ment.
which ha~ been been taken settles that point : the men
It was rumoured last week that defections among
will not strike. So far the rift in the federation lute the coalowners would be likely t o break the compact,
remains unrepaired . The men are not in a condition and t hat a settlement migh t he expected. But this
t o fight, they know it, and they vote accordingly. was regarded as improbable by the better informed
Besides, the local conditions as to trade are not pre- on the subject . I t is now proposed to suggest a comcisely t he same as in some other counties. A large promise by graduated reductions over a period of t ime.
proportion of the coal raised is exported . Another But the miners rould scarcely agree to this, except by
large contiogent is sent to London as cc seaborne coal. " rescinding their conference resolution. The most
Then those counties help to supply the fuel for the blast lik ely compromise is that suggested by Mr. Pickard,
furnaces of Cleveland. All t hese local requirements the namely, to return to work in all places where the
men have to consider, and they feel that they are not 25 per cent . is not insisted upon, and to stand out in
exactly in the same position as workers in other coal- all cases where the coa.lowner abides by his notices.
fields. But there a re two other fact s which influence This would mat erially limit the area of the strike, and
them. Their wa.ge3 are higher, all things considered, be the means of securing support from those allowed
than in other district s, because of the house rent a nd to work for the benefit of those still idle. As a matter
the free supply of fuel, so that e ven under the reduc- of policy, the mistake of the federation has been the
tions suffered, they contend that they are not quite in resolve t o call out all the men, whether the reduction
the same condition as outh 'Vales, or even as Cumber- is enforced or not. To fight Band C because you have
land. Then there is the other fear, na mely, t hat if a grievance against A is not tactical philosophy. It
they came out at the present time they would have t o would not be tried in ordinary affai rs, and in labour
retnrn at a further reduction. The local facts con vince conflicts it is the least likely to succeed. Such a
policy alienates public opinion, cuts off supplies from
them of this.
In Cu::nberland the men are rather awkwardly the parties engaged in the battle, and em bitters the
situa~ed. They had to suffer a reduction while and struggle all r ound.
when they were members of the federation. The
latter body did not uphold them very strongly in t heir
The engineering trades in Lancashire are disorganised
resistance to the reduction. They did not attempt t o somewhat by the coal st oppage, but in most cases the
put in force the rule upon which they now rely, orders are net so pressing as to necessitate continuous
in calling upou all miners to cease work in support of work irrespective of cost. In some of the principal
the fcder:at bn programme. The Cumberland men are, shops the supply of coal is tolerably ample, but it
therefore, timid in their action. Besides which the iron is uncertain as to the length of time that the mi ners'
and steel works have been in a bad state from want of strike will last. Boilermakers are well supplied wit h
orders and of work, and, therefore, the local demand work, and would be fairly busy were it not for the fact
for coal is not great. They are, consequently, uncer- that plates are not read ily available, in consequence of
tain how to act. .M e1nwhile they remain at work, in the closing of some of the iron and steel mills. ~la
spite of the resolution of the Birmingham conference. chine toolmakers are not so well off for work ; t he new
The Scottish miners seem t o be in a. fair way of orders are few and of comparatively small weight.
gett ing out of the di fficul ty quicker and with more Generally, the engineering branches are quiet, except
a.d vantage tha n the miners in other districts. They in special cases, or where the fir ms have a world-wide
had 3uffcred larger reductions than most. The Scotch reputation. The iron trade is slow a.nd unsettled,
miners gave in their notices for an advance in accord buyers holding back, rather than sellers. Foundry
ance with the federation policy, and there were indi- iron is most in req uest jnst n ow. The steel trade is
cations that, in the event of a ref usal to give the very slack, and in t he manufactured iron trade little is
advance, they would strike. The result was that t he doing, forges and mills doing next to nothing. The
coalowners in certain districs offered 6d. per day t extile trades are rather slack j ust now, owing parad,a.nce; this the men thought insufficient, and de- tially to the coal dispute, and partially to the usual
manded 1s. per day ad vance. At an informal meeting summer holidt~ys and excursions.
held in Glasgow at the close of l11.st week. the emThe general condition of t he engineering branches of
ployers decide~ to give the ls. advance _de~ande?,
and it is anticipated t hat all the other dtstncts w1ll trade appears not to be so good as it was, for the
follow suit. In this case the men will contiuue at number out of work in the Amalgamated Society of
work and those who had ceased will resume work at Engineers increased by 659 during the month. The
the a'd vance. With the men at full work in Scot- total nu mber on donation benefit was 5611 ; on the
land Durham Northumberland, and Cumberla.ud, the sick list, 1668; and on superannuation allowance,
coal 'scarcity ~ill be averted , and the ~m in e prices, 2354 ; the t ota.l number in receipt of pay for those
which some thought would t ake place, wtll not follow benefits being 9633, out of a t otal of 72,73 members.
The cost of these benefits was a t rifle under 1s. 4d. per
the coal s trike, as was anticipated.
In the Forest of D ean the men seem to be in a q uag- member per week. The members are urged to be on
mire. They were the first to come out, and were t he alert to find employment 'vherever they can for
supported by the federation. \Vhen the general strike t hose unemployed. The state of trade is referred t o as
took place there was a kind of understanding t h~t the being depressed, but no reference is made to existing
men would subsist for the two first weeks wtt hout disputes in other industries as a. contributing cause t o
any strike pay. The F orest of Dean men did not that depression. The executive council ha,e been in
barga.in for this. No funds were sent to t hem communication with the W ar Office authorit ies as to
1

[Auc. 18, 1893.

short er hours of labour, the avoidance of discharges of
workmen a t this juncture, and other matters. It is
probable that the eight hours system will be partially
adopted in some cases, on the lines of experiments
tried elsewhere. But the\'\"oolwich Labour L eague
men protest against any decrease of \Vages in the event
of shorter hours, so that t he experiment will be confined
mostly t o the better paid artisan classes, and their immediate helpers, at least in the first instance. The
.American-Canadian Council report trade to have declined, the increase of out-of-work members was more
than double that in the previous report. The Australian
Council also report that trade is bad, more member~
being out of work than at t he dat e of the last report.
The \Vido ws and Orphans' Provident F und appears to
be prospering in connection with the Amalgamated
'ociety of Engineers. The members only pay l ~d. per
week, and so far it is a voluntary levy; but, if it succeeds, it is probable that in the near fu ture the society
may make it part and par cel of the benefits of this
many-sided institution, available fo r all t he members.
The general secretary was one of the delegates to t he
Zurich Congress, as a representative of the Parli:t
mentary CC>rumittee. The council reports that the
Ironfounders and the Engineers have agreed to cooperate where joint action is necessary. In t hus
working together for the general good they believe
that the members will be benefited, and t he organisat ions strengthened all over the country.
The I ronfoundera' report states that the general condition of trade has not been marked by any material
change. But the improvement recently noticed has
not been maintained, while in other cases t rade continues dull. But in shipping centres t rade is reported
to be considerably better, the prospects generally
being brighter that they have been for some t ime past.
As regards the trade p osition of the society, thi ngs a.re
better , for there was a decrease of 160 in receipt of
benefit. The total this month was 2464, as against
2624 bst month. There was an increase of six on
donation , but on dispute pay there was a decrease of
131, and on the other t rade fund of 34. There was an
increase of seven on superannuation, and a decrease of
eight on the sick list. The total membership is 15,022,
as against 15,268 at the end of J uly, 1892. Turning
to the state of trade in the several localities where
branches exist, we find that trade is slack to good in
sixty places, having 7484 members; last month the
same conditions existed in sixty-four places, b ut with
only 7385 members, the change being t rifling. In
sixty-two places trade ranged from very dull to very
bad, employing 7538 mem bers : last month the same
conditions existed in fif ty-eight places, em ploying
7691 members. These figures shown no real improvement generally, only changing conditions. T he most
encouraging feature in the report is the fewness of t he
members, only sevent een in t he whole society, out on
dispute. The report states at some length the steps
taken to bring about a mutual underatanding wit h t he
Amalgamat ed Society of Engine~rs , and the resolution
arrived at by t he two executive councils. The arrange
ment does not involve any forward action, but may
mean mutual action in case of any attack upon
wages or hours of labour. The question of labour
contracts by the Government is referred t o, a.nd the
printing contract of the union is given in order t o
show that every care is taken to insure the trade union
rate of wages, and hours of labour, as recognised by
the London ociety of Compositors. The names of
the competing firms are ghen, the total amount of the
tender, and the conditions attached thereto. The
members are being urged by a well-known Sheffield
member to erect trade halls in districts where t he
society is strong, as places of call for those in or out of
work, for meetings, and the like. That the general
strain on the society's funds has been great during the
last tweh~ e months is ev ident from the fact that in July,
1892, the total balance was 49, 250l. , whereas at the
end of last month it was 40,039l., a decrease of 9211 1. ,
and that, t oo, with a higher rate of contribution.
The Ironmoulders of cotland ha Ye little to report
by way of improvement in the state of trade. The
number " idle " is large- larger than usual. The
total number on idle benefit was 648; idle, but not on
benefit, 468, or a. total of 1116 out of 6132 members.
But this season of the year is always a slack time in
cotland, and holidays a.re partly paid for by the
union- that is, lost t ime beyond a cert ain wage. The
out-of-work members are pretty eYenly distribut ed
over all the distri cts in proportion to the t ot al number, but in some districts the proportion is large. As
a check t o any sponging upon the fu nds, the names of
the members in receipt of idle beaetit are gi ,en in full,
together with the number on the society's books. The
report gives a reprint of the F atal Accidents I nquiry
( cotland) Bill , and expresses a hope that it will be
amended in some particulars, and that it will then
pass into la w this year.
As the time draws near for t he assembling of the
Trades Union Annual Congress, delegates are being

E N G I N E E R I N G.

AuG. 18, 1893.]

appointed, but it is thought that the muster in Belfast
will not be equal t o the aggregate number of the last
three years. Most of the ol der unions will be represented as usual, but the delegates of the newer union s
will be fewer than they have been at r ecen t congresses. The vast number of r esol utions sent in is
exercising the minds of t he older hands ; they
cannot see how it is possible to discuss one-half
of them in th e course of a week. The way out
of the difficulty will probably be that two or
three subjects will take u p the maj or p ortion of
the time, and all the other subjects will be passed
without debate, and be relegated t o the Parliamentary
Committee to carry out.

---

1Ir. Samuel \Voods, M . P. , is very ira.to a t Mr. Gladstone's refusal to set apart a. day for the discussion
He seems to forget that th e
of the eight hours.
Prime Minister has to consult a great number of other
men besides the miners' r epresenta.ti ves, or such of
t hem as a re in favour of the l\1ines Eigh t Hours Bill.
It would require a great amoun t of pressure t o get a
Saturd ay's sitting, except for th e formal business of
the session, with the view of winding it up. And a
Saturday's sitt ing would not suffice for the Bill. It
would t ake two or three days to get through Committee a.t the least, p erhaps more.

THE CLEVELAND DISTRICr.

0 n .Recent Developments in the Cleveland ! ?on and Steel
I ndustries. *
.By Mr. JRRE)IIAH HEAD, Past -Presidenb.
(Concluded from page 192.)
P yrometer. - The perfect con tl'ol of smelting op erations
has hith e rto been rendered impossible or difficult, for
want of an instrument capable of indioat1ng high t emperatures with aoouraoy. Such a.n instrument ca.n now he
obtained in th e L e Chatelier pyrometer, on which a. J>aper
was read before th e Cleveland Institution of Engmeers
in ... ovember last (Proceedings 1892-93, page 25) uy the
May or, l\1r. Charles L owtbian B ell. A tbermo-eleotrio
couple of platinum and pla.tino-rhodium wires is inserted
p ermanentl y in the blast main or in any of the ga.s downcorners, and is connected by oonduotors with a gal vanomot er placed in the mana~er's office. The gal va.nometer,
by means of a twisting muror, causes a. beam of light to
fall upon a. scale, from which the t emperature is read off.
On the improved plan devised by Professor R obertsAusten, the beam of light, instead of falling on)y upon
the scale, is oaused to act on sensitised paper coiled on a
olockdriven barrel. On this it traces a. continuous ourve
recording a.utographically every change of temperature.
A complete check is thus provided da.y and night upon
the operations of the furnace-men ; and a clue may be
obtained to the cause of troubles, and their remedy be
facilitated, in a. way whioh otherwise would not be
possible.
S lag Disposal.-In 1871little ha.d been done in the way
of utilising any of the slag made in Cleveland, whioh now
amounts to 3l million tons annually. Various unsightly
mountains were being piled up on land dearly purchased
for the purpose. The river improvements absorbed a
oerta.in proportion, and roadmaking and levelling up
waste land a further quantity. On the completion of the
South Gare breakwater, it was found absolutely necessary
to organise a. barge service. whereby the slag might he
sent out to sea., in those cases where there were no other
means for disposal. The slag ball~, as then made, weigh ed
from 2 to 4 t ons each, and were naturally difficult to deal
with. Various plans were devised for breaking them up
to facilitate loading. But it has since been found bettf'r
t o adopt m eans by which the slag is never allowed t o
ao :mmulate in a. heavy mass at all. Mr. Hawdon's ingenious arrangement wh ereby the liquid slag is converted
into solid shingle, and at the same time loaded up into
trucks, has been recently brought before the Institution
(Proceedings, 1892, page 70). By means of this plant,
which is bemg extensively adopted, the removal and
loading of the slag goes on continuously and automatically a.t a cost of about 1.3d. per ton of sla.g removed, or
2.8d. per t on of pig iron (ENG I~EF.RING, vol. liii., page 243).
Slag Wool.- Slag wool, with the invention of which
Mr. Charles W ood's nam e has always been associated, is
still manufactured under his supervision at M essrs.
\Vilsons, P ease, and Co.'s works on a considerable scale.
It is produced by blowiug jets of steam a.oross fin e streams
of molten slag as they issue from the furnace. The wool,
which is really a matted mass of fine spun glasa, is used
for a variety of purposes, of which th e one that is perhaps
of most ioteresb to engineers is M a non-conductor of beat.
:Mr. S. W. John.son, M ember of Council, locomotive
superin~ndent of the Midland Railway, states that he
has used it for sevMel years on locomotive boilers with
excellent results. The total quantity produced a t the
Tees Iron Works exceeds 1000 tons per annum.
P avinn Blocks.- About twenty years ago it was discovered by Mr. W oodward that blast-furnace slag run into
an iron mould a.nd then a.nne 1led would make an exceedingly hard and tough block suitable for roa.d paving, and
muoh cheaper tha.n setts of granite or other natural stone.
The manufacture of these blocks is now carried on at three
of the Cleveland smelting works, by the Tees Soori~
Brick Company, and has become one of the staple industries of the district. Some only of the slag as it comes
from the furnace is of suitable quality; and therefore the

* Paper read before the Institution of M echanical

Engineers .

select ed produce of five furnaces is required to produce a

daily average of about 10,000 blocks. The total produce
of the district i~ at present about 100,000 blocks per
week of a. value of about 13s. per ton, or 75s. per 1000
block's of ordinary size. The process of manufacture is !iS
followR: The slag, when oommg from the furnace ~f ~Ul~
able quality, is ru n into a bogie ladle. }i"ro~ this It l S
poured into oast-iron moulds secured to the. periphery of a.
hotizontal wheel. Eaoh mould has a. hmged bottom.
The wheel iti slowly rotated, and the bottoms of ~he
moulds are released in succession . The blooks, molten m side but chilled and solid at the surface, drop upon a soft
bed of gra.nulated slag, and are quickly removed and
stacked in an annealing stove. When full, the doors of
the stove ate closed, and the blocks are allowed to an?eal
themselves without a.ny extraneous heat. In about eight
hours the doors !l.re opened, and the ?locks gradu~lly
withdrawn. They are then fit for use. Without a.nneahng
they would soon crumble. to pieces from in tern a~ stres~es.
The waste, owing to unsUitable slag a.nd other dttfi~ulties,
averages ~0 per cent. of tho3e oa.st. About twenty dtfferent
sizes and shapes are ma.de to suit customers' requirements.
Th~ blocks are in great demand for street paving, not
only locally, but a.lso in many foreign towns where they
can be cheaply conveyed by water. They find their way
even to Canada. The cost of paving with them, exolusi ve
of labour and freight, varies from 2~. to 3.3. 7d. p er square
yard.
H ydraulic Cement. - Among the uses t o whi ch Cleveland blast-furnace slag has been recently applied, the
manufacture of hydrauli c cement ought to be m<:ntioned.
The faot that slag contains all the elements of a good hydraulic cement, except that there is a defioienoy of lime,
was long since noticed; and many experiments ha.ve been
made by Mr. Charles Wood, Mr. J. E. Stead, and others,
to ascertain whether it oould b e manufactured into this
useful ma.t(jrial. The construction of a. pier nea.r the
Skinningrove Iron Works affordEd recently an excellent
opportunity of putting the idea into practice. Mr. T. C.
Hutohinson, the managing director of the works, aided
by Mr. W. Kidd, his engineer, succeeded in carrying
the manufa~ture to complete success. The pier was
construct ed of concrete wa.ll3 made of slag cement a.nd
backed up with slag rubble. Althou gh the3e works are
situated on an unprotect ed part of the coast, the owners
have been a.ble, since the construction of t he pier, to ship
their produce as easily a.s if they had been si tuated on the
banks of the River Tee~. Slag cement is made by running
a. stream of slag into water, whereby "slag sand " is
formed. The latter, after being dried, is pulverised by
millstones, and then introduced into an iron barrel on
gudgeons, containing a. number of iron balls. Lime,
which has been previously slaked and dried, is added, and
the barrel is rotated until the ground and mix ed contents
resemble fine flour, and are capable of passing through a
sieve containing 180 wires per linear inch without leaving
a residue of more than 10 t o 15 per cent. This fine powder
is slag cement. Its analysis does not differ greatly from
that of Portland cement, except that it has more a.lumina
and silica, and less lime. Its present cost is about 253. p er
t on, or rather less than P ortland cement. T est pieceez,
composed of three parts of sand to one part of cement,
have, a fter standing a month, a tensile strength of 361lb.
per square inoh. It has a remarkable p ower of setting
quickly under water.
Pavement Flags.-Another industry which ha.s sprung
up in the north-east district in oonneotion with the utilisation of sla.g is the manufacture of a.rtifioial pavements.
Twenty years ago natural flag-stonea from Caithness and
elsewhere were almost universally used for side-walks, and
Yorkshire landings from Bradford for rail way platforms.
Al1 that is now altered. For rail way platforms, cement
concrete, which may or may not have slag or slag cement
in its composition, is used with excellent results; and
similar pavements are to some extent used in this and
other towns for side- walks. But the manufa cture of artificial flags is, to a great extent, an industry pe0uliar to
thi s district. They are made about 2~ ft. square by 2 in.
thick, in suitable moulds, from ground slag mixed with
Portland or Rlag cement a.s previously described. In some
cases the top surface is composed of the residue from
the m ~nufac ture of annealed slag blocks, which, it is
claimed, is hard er and more durable than concrete made
from other materials. After being moulded, the flags
are sta.oked for some weeks b efore t.h ey are tit for use.
Pavements ma.de from artificial flags are far more smooth,
level, and uniform tha.n those made from n atural flagstones, as will be seen by an yone who inspects the pavement surrounding th e Middlesbrough Town Hall.
Although t his has been in use for several years, there is
no sign of d e~eri o ration, especially of that lamination
through wet or frost whioh is $0 d estructive to the appearance and uti1ity of natural flags. Concrete in separate flags is less likely to craok, and is more easily adjusted in oase of subsidence, than wh ere large areas are
covered without subdivision. The cost per square yard
is n ow about 3s. 8d.
F inished Iron.- The finished iron trade in thi s district, as already shown, has been steadily diminishing
since 1872, owing to the almost comp!ete aupersession of
iron rails and of iron ships and boilers by those construct ed of steel. I t is still a debatable question whether
this supersession will continue furth Pr or not. The
superiority of t>teel in the way of strength, ductility, and
homogeneity is so universally recognised, that it is not
likely to be to any considerable ex t ent ousted by it s old
rival, wrought iron. But the latter has some undeniable
physical advantages, besides being still rather ohea.per
than steel. It is more easily welded ; a.nd it does not become corroded so rapidly in positions wh ere protection by
paint is not easily maintained. 'l'he former ad vantage is
probably the reason why it continues to hold its own in bar
mills ; for country blacksmiths, theprinoipa.l users of bar iron

221
in all countries, will have what they can ~ea.dily ~eld. The
Ja.tter advantage accounts for its pers~ten oe m roofing
sh eets and in plates intended for th e. mternal p~rts of
ships. Although 94 J?er c~nt. 9f the shtps now built a.re
nominally of steel, Iron 1s still preferred and used by
ma.ny builders a nd owners for mt~rnal pa~ts, such as
deok plates, bunkers, engine a.nd b01ler Aea.tmgs, ~oor.s,
bulkhea.da, &o. In some of these parts ~o reductiOn. m
thickness is allowed by Lloyd's Comm1.ttee for ~~1!1g
steel and therefore the lower price of 1ron tells m Its
favor:r as ~ell as its iess liability to corrosion. For the~e
reason~ iron bar and plate mills still ~xist, althoug~ 10
diminished numbers; and they seem hkely to oontmue
for some time to come.
.
The puddling processes and the ap~lianoes use? therem
remain almost exactly as they .were m 187.1. N umerous
improvements have been devtsed and tr~ed, but they
generally led t o difficulties wit~ the operatives, an~ were
ultimately abandoned. An 1mporta.nt advance 11? the
ma.nufa.oture of finished iron has been made by t.he m~ro
duotion or rather development, of separate bloommgmills.
A finishing mill formerly received a. pile direct from the
heating furnace, and after . numero~s passes produo~d a.
fini.'lh~d bar or plate. Thts occupted tbe whole. m1ll a
considerable time for a. small produce. Re-heatmg was
usually resorted to for heavy sections after the first few
passes ; but, nevertheless, the same mill or train did a.ll
the reducing. Separate mills are now employed for . the
earlier paRses. S uoh mills oa.n bloom~ f~r gre~t~r weight
of piles in a. given time than can a fimshmg mill If so e~
ployed ; and the finishing mills, being confined to th eu
own proper use become able t o turn out a muoh larger
tonnage. Sepa.'rate bloomin~ mills are usua:lly made
capable of receiving piles of muoh larger seotwnal area.
than were formerly dealt with. By this mean~ the proportion of scrap iron contained in the pile can be m oreased,
and the total requisite improvement m quality can be obtained by more abundant work on th e iron, rather than
by costly mi xtures in th e puddling furnace. Thus the
productive power of fini shing mills has been largely increased, and the cost of production lessened, without any
deterioration of q uality.
.
. .
M ill E ngines.- In the plate mills of the d1str10t great
ad vantage has also been obtained by the use of more
powerful engines than were formerly thought necessary.
Ooe of these, designed by the author and construc ted by
Messrs. \ Ve&tgarth, En~lish, and Co. in 1885, is working
a plate mill at Mes~rs. John Hill and Co. 's \Vorks, the
production of which averages 750 tons per WEek. It has
a single cylinder, 48 in. in diameter a.nd 54 in. stroke,
both cylinder and covers st eam jacketed , works with a.
pressure of 60 lb. p er square inch, and is fitted with an
automatic variable expansion gear and with a steamactuat ed starting gear. *
At the Bowesfield Iron Works a p owerful reversing
engine, with two 36 in. by 42 in. cylinders and geared in
the proportion of 3 to 1, was constru cted to the author's
design by Messrs. Miller and Co. , of Coatbridge, in 1888,
for the purpose of driving a heavy plate mill and separate
blooming mill. In this oase the plate mill was driven
from one end of the second motion shaft, and the blooming mill from the other. In handling the engine, prderenc:e was always given to the plate mill, and the blooms
were put through the other mill just as opportunity arose.
Experience showed that neither mill interfered with the
other in the least. The advantages of separate blooming
were therefore obtained without a. separate engine or
attendant. On the starting of this reversing engine the
ma.ke of tho plate mill rose from 300 up to 570 tons of
finished pla tes p er week. t
OthE~r improvements have been made in fin ished iron
mills, suoh as larger and more powerful shears, capable
of cutting up to 1~ in. and even 2 in. thiok, and having
ga.ps as deep as 30 in. The application of double-cylinder
reversing engines to plate shears, of sufficient power to
out any thickness without the aid of a. flywheel, has been
a further ad vanoe; also the employment of steam
winches for hauling the plates about on the cooling
floors, and CJf similar apparatus for turning them over for
examination, and for charging piles into, and drawing
them out of, heating furnaces ; and the u ~e of lamps on
the " lucigen" prinoiplel to facilitate shearing by night.
All these improvements nave bad a. share in cheapening
the production of wrought iron, and in enabling it to
resist extermination by the ever-increasing competition
of steel.
Conupated Sheets.-The manufacture of galvanised corrugated sheets was introduced int o Middlesbrough about
three years ago by Messrs. R. P. Dorman and Co. Some
difficulty was at first encountered in obta.ining the
requisite skilled workmen; but now theya.re able t o make
corrugated sheets of a quality equal to those produced in
Staffordshire and South Wales. The output of this firm
is about 200 tons per wet- k, all of whioh finds a. nady
market in India, China, the colonies, and eh;ewhere.
Steel M anvjacture. -By far the most important addition to the industries of Cle veland since 1~71 i~ the
manufacture of steel. As already stated, thi s ad mits of four divisions, namely, the Bessemer and the
open-h earth a.oid processeP, which d eal with hematite pig
iron ma.de in the !orality from Spanish or~; and the
B essemer and th e open-hearth basio proce~seez, whioh dea.l
with special pig iron containing a. considerable proportion
of impurity, and made from local ores and cinders. In
the two acid processes, the conversion of the pig iron into
st eel takes place in vessels or h earths ha' ing silicious or
acid linings. In the two basic prooeeseP, th e linings are
composEd of lime, magnesia, or other ba.~ic matE:rial.
Although open hearth basic furnaces have been tried in
the distri ct, there are none in operation at pre~ent. This

* The .Engi'flcer, May 6, 1887, pages 349, 352, 360.

t I bid., February 15, 1889, page 144.

~22

process, therefore, cannot as yet be considered ot practical

l~portance here, alth<;mgh i~ might become so at any
t1me, wer e there anvthmg to mterfere with the supply of
bematite ore from Spain.
The favourable position of Cleveland for the importation of Sp~nish ore has naturall y led to the development
of the amd processes far more than of the basic. In
q.ennany, on the.o~her hand,, which is not so favourably
sttuated for obtammg hemattte ore, the basic processes
have be.en r elativelY. far more developed. Ther e ar e those
who tbmk that we m Cleveland have been less wise than
our G~1 man competitors in this respect, for our own steel
trade 1s not self-contained, whilst theirs is so. But, however that may be, we have at present only two works
where the basic process is in operation, namely, the NorthEastarn Steel Works, and :Messrs. Bolckow V augban
and Co.'s Eston Steel Vvorks. Both of thes~ establish~
ments have been constructed since 1871. Their finished
p roducts consist of rails, steel sleepers, tin bars blooms
and billets. Messrs. Bolckow, V augba.n, and' Co. hav~
appliances for ~orking on all four processes, but at pres nt are confinmg themselves to the Bessemer acid and
B ~ssemer ba.sic. The North-Eastern Steel Company use
the Bessemer basic process only.
M ixing and Desulphu1-ising.-At theEston Steel Works
~be combined mixing and d esulpburising apparatus, first
mtroduced by Mr. J osepb Massenez, of Hoerde has
recently b ~en adopted by Mr. David Evans. Two ~ixers
have been erected, each capable of holding 120 tons and
together of dealing with the make of four blast furnaces
or abo?t 2000 tons of pig iron per week . The pig iron i~
of ordmary Cleveland quality, containing not more than
It per cent. of .silicon and an average of 1 per cent. of
1 manganese, whiCh, however, is concentrated mainly in
the produ.c t of one ~urn~ce. Th~ ~rin ciple acted upon i3
that the 1ron sulpbtde m the p1g n on 1s decomposed in
th~ mixer.by the mang~nese, produci ng manganese sul pbtde, whteb flows off m the slag, and leaving metallic
uon free from sulphur. Analyses show that rails made
by the Bessemer basic proceEs from Cleveland iron so
treated cannot practically be distinguished from those
II_lade by the Bessemer acid process from Spanish bematite ore. Inasmuch as it costs 50l. to line a 'Bessemer
basic converter, it i~, of course, important to make the
linings last as long as possible; and by the use of low
silicon pig and subsequent desulpburisation, Mr. Evans
ha.s succeeded in obtaining fifty blows p er lining as
against thirty formerly. A mixer has also been ere~ted
at the North-Eastern Steel Works.
A prcc3ss ha.s been devised by Mr. E. H . Saniter of
'\Vigan, for effecting desulphurisation by introducing into
th~ receivil?g ladle 25lb. of .cal.cium ch lorid~ and an equal
wetght of hm e per ton of p1g 1ron. Expertments on this
process have been tried at the Newport Iron Works, but
so far it has n ot been introduced commercially into this
district.
It would be superfluous to dwell on the Bessemer processes, acid or basic, as they are so well known. It may
be mentioned, however, as one of the staple indus tries of
the di trict connected with the manufacture of steel, that
Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan, and Co. now produce extensively at their Middlesbrough works ferro-manganese and
spiegeleisen, importing the requisite manganese and
manganiferous ores from the Caucasus, L evant, and elsewhere.
R er.arburisirl{f.-Mr. J . H. Darby's interesting process
-:f recarburising steel by dissolving therein powdered
carbon obtained from anthracite, gas carbon, or other
sources, has been adopted to some extent in the Cleveland steel trade. Should the basic processes extend, this
invention will no doubt come still more into use. At
present, however, the bulk of the steel made being by one
or other of the acid processes, ther e is no diffi culty in
obtaining the requisite percentage of carbon, without any
special introduction of that element.
Basic Slag as Manure.-The slag r esulting from the
Bessemer basic process has been proved to possess valuable qualities as a manure, owing to the large percentage
of phos phorus which it contains. A s a t etra-basic phosphate of lime, in which form the element is present, it can
be readily assimilated by plants, provided the slag is
ground s ufficientlY. tine. At the North-Eastern Steel
' Vorks a large mtlling plant has been erected, in which
the whole of the slag, amounting to 25 per cent. of the
t otal weight of steel produced, is ground by edge-runnes
orother means, until about 83 percent. will pass through
a sieve o f 120 wires per linear inch. It has been found
by experiment that the efficiency of the manure is not
increased by grinding it finer than this. Any small fragments of steel which may have become mixed with the
slag are removed by magnets. The manure con tains
from 17 to 20 per cent. of phosphoric acid. 50 per cent. of
lime, and 14 per cent. of iron oxideq, together with smaller
quanti ties of other ingredients. Exhaustive exper iments
have beAn made with the manure in this and other countries. It has been found most effective when mixed with
other nitrogenous manures in the proportion of 4 to 1,
and when 5 cwt. of the mixture is used per acre. It is
then about equal to superphosphate in beneficial effect.
At the price of 27s. per ton it commands a ready sale.
H eating F u1naces for Steel I ngots - In furnaces for
b eating steel ingots, a.n improvement of great importance
has recently been made by the adoption of so called vertical furnaces. These seem to be a. development of Mr.
John Gjors' " soaking pits," wherein the internal beat of
sem i-sohdified ingots was utilised by placing them vertically in firebrick pits, until an average t emperature
suitable for rolling was attained. The modern verti.cal
ingot-beating .f~rna.ce r~S~f!!bles a gro~p of such soakmg
pits with addtt10nal fac1ht1es for b'l&.tmg the charge exter~ally. For th is purpose producer-gas is usually,
though not of necessity, employed. The vertical furnace
has the ad vantage that a powerful overhead crane is

E N G I N E E R I N G.
ea.Bily applied for cha rging and withd rawing the ingots,
and another s maller one for removing and replacing the
covers. A pair of hydraulic radial cranes are sufficient
for twenty or more pits, if the latt er be arranged in a
circle around them. No manual labour is necessary
beyond controlling the orane~, adj usting the lifting tongs,
and occasionally removing accumulations of flue cinder.
The larger crane is sometimes a steam traveller, in which
case it can act for an unlimited numb:r of pits. The
new vertical furnaces at Messrs. Donnan, L ong, and
Co.'s works, and also those at the Est on Steel Works,
have been made on the regenerati Ye principle, whereby
much higher temperatures than ordinary ate attained,
with consequent saving of time. In these furnaces the
pits communicate with one another, forming one large
beating chamber. The direction of the flame is reversed
eYery half-hour.
\V hen first the st eel trade was introduced into the northeast district some years ago, it became obvious that much
heavier weights in the way of ingots would have t o be
d ealt with than had previously been necessary in t he
way of piles or bloome. The plan most in favour at first
was t o bring lines of rail way into and throughout the
work~, using thereon locomotives and bogies or self.
moving cran~. By means of these, ingots, slabs, and
blooms could be taken from the furn aces to the mill~,
while the same appliances could also be utilised in cbarg
ing and drawing. This plan is s till mu<.:h in vogue,
especially where the works have not been oririnally laid
out for steelmakin g, and where the route from the furnaces t o the mills is long and circuitous. In such caseo
narrow-gauge railways with miniature locomotives ar e
found Yery convenient, because of the ~mall space
they oroupy and the sharp curves which they admit of.
In modern works, especially designed for steelmaking,
the tendency is so to lay them out that hydraulic cranes
and li ve rollers perform all th e ncessary moving of
heavy weights. This is best accomplished by placing
the vertical furn aces, cogging mill, hot ~ bears, heating
furnaces, finishi ng mill, and saws as far as possible in
series, so that the pieces run in a straight line, or nearly
so, from the ingot-beating furnace to the loading bank.
Oogging and Finishing.-Coggin g and fi nis hing are
now almost in variably done by powerful reversing engin es,
on the plan first adopted thirty years ago by Mr. J obn
Ramsbottom, Pa.st-President. In oogging and plate
mills gearing is always used. Finishing mills for rails
or section bars are worked direct. In the earlier days
the finishing engines bad a mill on each side. This plan
is still occasionally adopted, but in that case the mills
are worked alternately and not simultaneously. While
une m ill is working, the rolls rure being changed at the
other. For every mill to have a pair of engines exclusively to itself when working, is the system which has
slowly been eYolved.
No revetsing rolling mill engines in the nortbea.st
district are compound 1 nor a re any <'ondensing. Though
hunting gear is sometimes applied to the reversing appa
ratus of the larger engines, it is seldom, if ever, used for expaneive working, notwithstanding th e importance of
saYing steam where raised in coal-fired boi lers. It is a
rather curious circumstance that half-a-century ago large
r olling mills were almost always driven by condensing engines worked to some extent expansively. Now
such engines are all non-condensing, and for the most
part work almost nonexpansi vely. This seeming r etrogression is held to be justified by t he intermittent
cbara.cter of the work, the necessity for frequent reversals.
and for applying maximum power at stM'ting, whatever
the posi tion of the cranks. The desirability of simplicity in all rolling mill machinery is also generaJly
pleaded. The employmen t of a separate condenser and
air pump, for the use in common of all the engines in a
mill, has often been suggested. Hitherto the pJan has
not been carried into effect, because of the r elatively
lar~e quantity of cooli ng water which is r equired to
mamta.in a continuous vacuum under intermittent con
ditions. A plan for working r eversing r olling mill
engines to some extent expansively was submitted by
the author t o the CleYeland Institution of Engineers
in February last (Proceedi ngs, F~bcuary 20, 189:i, page
121).
Steam Pressure.-The pressure of steam adopted in
steel works is from 80 lb. to 100 lb. per square inch,
instead of 35 to GO in the finished iron works. L ancashire
boilers are now almost universally used, and the plain
cylindrical and Rastrick types will soon be things of the
past. M echanical stokers ar e increasingly in favour,
being much more regular in action and generally more
manageable than the human variety.
H ydraulic P ower.-Hydraulic power, for which the
accumulator pressure is usually about 700 lh. per squar e
inch, is being more and more used. Besides being employed for lifting Ol'anes and converter gear, it comes in
well for balancing the top rolls in cogging and roughing
mills, and for holding and m easurin~ blooms at the hotslab shears. It has a.lso been apphed with r emarkable
success for tilting the ingots and slabs in cogging mills,
for revertting cy linders, and for t e~ti ng machin e~. At the
Britannia Works a triple cyl ind er hydraulic straightening
machine for heavy work, a hydraulic coupling jack, and
various other hydraulic tools are in daily use.
Hot- Slab Shears and Hydraulic Foging.-Only six
years ago it was the custom to hammer steel ingot~, and
t.ben cut them with a knife to the various weights necessary for making plates. This somewhat slow and clumsy
process had the disadvantage that the blooms could not
be made of the exact weights required. Consequently
there was risk of rejection from being t oo small, or of
waste from being too large. All this has now been done
away with by the hot-slab shears and the hydraulic stopapparatus first perfe~ted by :Mr. J . Hartley '\Vicksteed,
~lember of Council, and now almost universally adopted.

[AuG. I 8, I ggj.
It was a long time before it was clearly proved and
generally admitted that cogged steel ingots would produce as reliable plates as th ose which bad been ham
mered. To this day there is here and there an ardent
champion of hammering as against cogging, and among
the South Wales tinplate makers there are still some
who will pay more for tin bars ~ hich ha\e been ham
mer ed than for thoc:;e which have been cogged. In the
north-east di~trict, however, there is no longer any hammering except in the manu facture of forgings, and even
here the tendency is to sa bstitute hydraulic forgin g
presses.
Oogging Millj~1 Plates and Steel Sections.-Ooly a short
t ime ago, plates were made at some works from shallow
fiat ingots paseed only through the roughing and finishing
rolls of a plate mill. Experience has shown, however
that in order to obtain the requisite quality in the finished
plate, .it is necessary to reduce from a la~ge ingot, which
necessitates the use of a separate coggtng milL Plates
for ships, boilers, bridges, &c., would not otherwise stand
the somewhat rigid tests to which they are now subjected
by public authorities, nor could the quality be kept unifor mly good. Not only so, but it has been shown to be
poor econoDJy to use the pla te mill for reducing from the
mgot. The addition of a good cog~ing mill enables a
plate mill to double its output, besJdes improving the
quality. A production of 100 tons per shift, or 1000 tons
pE:!r week, is now n o~ an uncommon arerage performance
for a singlE\ steel plate mill, and as much as 1340 t ons
have been turned out in a. week .
The earlier s teel section milia were not aided by a
separate cogging mill. The ingot was put in at one end
of the train, and the finished angle or other st'ction
brought out a.t the other ; but this r equired considerable
time. Now the cogging is all done elfewbere. Com-equently the output of the finishing mill has been largely
increased. Th e further ad vantage has been gained that
the ingots can all be ca.st of one gi ze, or of a. very few
sizes, and these very large. And as th e blooms can be
cut to any weight, the lengths is~uing from the finishing
mill can be varied, and the waste from crop ends reduced
to a minimum. Three-ton ingots for section mills and
four t on for plate mills are now usual sizes.
Steel Me lting Furnaces. - Tbe open-hearth melting furnaces employed in the northeast district, which p roduce
the bulk of the ste~l here manufactured, differ but little
from the type d evifed and perfected by the late Sir William Siemens, Past-Presidfnt, except that there has been
a teadency to incr ease their capacity. A 30-ton furnace
is now quite common, while there are some as large a.s 50
tons; 40 tons capacity is a convenient size. Although
for the ruost part they are acid furnace~, they could easily
be altered to basic whenever circumstances might necessitate that change.
Ga s Produce1s.- In the manufacture of gas for :::nelticg
furnaces, ironc~sed .Producers of the \Vilson or Ingham
types, or mod1ficat1ons thereof, have almos t entirely
superseded those of the original Siemens pattern. In
s"me cases the ashpit is filled with water, and the casing
is carried d own below tbe level thereof, so as to form a
water seal. All the ashes dropping from the firegrate
fall into this water, and are raked out occasionally from
two pockets in .the a~bpit on op~os ite ~ides, through the
water seal: It IS cla1med that th1s obv1ates the necessity
for stoppmg for that purpose, and makes the action of
the producer practically continuous. The supply of air
for combustion is brought into the sealed ash pit by a pipe
leading from a steam-jet injector.
Steel Foundrics.-No account of the iron and ~teel
industries of the north- east district would be complete
which omitted to mention the steel foundry trade that
ha-s sprung up during the last few years. There are four
steel foundries in active operation-namely, those belonging to M essrs. John Rogerson and Co. at Wolsingbam
the Darlington Forge Company ab Darlington Messrs~
William Shaw and Co. at Middlesbrough, and' JY1essrs.
Sutherst and Soutborn at Guisborougb. The first was
established about 1862 by the late 1\Ir. C harles Attwood.
It is an extensive establishment, producing steel castings
forgingll, machined work. and quick-firing and Norden~
felt guns up to 6 in. calibre. Propeller blades, dredger
buckE:ts, anchors, s tern and rudd er posts for ships crankshafts, lccomoti ve dri ving-wbeels, shot and sh~ll, are
also made there. The Darlington Forge is an important
concern ~ngaged on similar but less various work.
At Middlesbr ough theonlysteel foundry is tbatcarried
on by Messrs. William Shaw and Co., Mr. Sbaw having
been for many years manager at W olsingham. At this
foundry the usual charge consists of 10 per cent. hema.tite
pig iron , and 90 per cent. steel scrap. The castings contain from O.lG to 1.5 p er cent. of carbon, and withstand a
tensile stress of from 26 to 35 tons per square inch. The
softer qualities in their unannealed condttion will extend
18percent, and bend double round a bar1 in. in diameter.
Mr. Sha.w claims to be able to make castings without
blowholeR, and has abandoned annf'a.ling except wb are
specifie~ .. believing it unnecessary if the metal be of proper
corn post t 10n.
In conclusion, I desire to tender my besb thanks to the
many owners o f work s, engineers, and others who have
kindly aided me with information, and so facilitated my
attempt t o lay before you some account of what has been
done towards the development of th e Cleveland iron and
steel industries durin g the last twenty years.
FRENCH CoAL I~lPORTS.-Tbe quantity of coal imported
into France in the first quarter of this year was 2 122 140
tons, as compared with 2,113,490 tons m the cor;esp~nd
~ng per.iod of 1892, and 2,23~,099 tons in the correspondmg per10d of 1891. In thes~ Imports English coal figured
for 1,084,841 tons, as compared with 1,153 033 tons and
1,094,2G2 tons respectively.
'

Auc.

E N G i N E R i N G.

8, I 893.]

:
U~

17

fairly con stant, the slope of th e curve at t he t er minals

of t he arc may be said on ly to d epend on t~e total re
sistance of the met allic circuit. I t ~atters h t tle,. then ,
whether this latter is p ut altoget her m to t he m aohme, or
1ies par tly outside in a resistan ce.
.
~
T o this resi~:Stance a value m ay always be gt ven s~ffi
cient t o obtain the steadiness of the arc. T he r eactiOns
of th e lamp on the motor are of n o importance, for ~he
power E x I of the mach ine incr eases continuously wtth
the curren t, which satis fies t h e COfl:dition laid down ~bo.'e.
:Magnetisation can always b e easily effected by brm gmg
the ca rbon s in to con tact.
This ha nd iness and regula r ity h ave long ago ca used t h e
ser ies dynamo to be adopted w1th success .fo~ th e .snpply
of individual a rcs wit h fixed curren t . It I S m t h is ~orm
that the fi rst mach ines h ave been constructed, esp~c.Iall y
those int ended for t he ligh ting of projectors for nuhtary
and naval pu rposes; whenever th ey have been ab~ndoned
for these latter the chief reason has been the desire to be
able to feed s~veral arc lamps, and e,en incandescent
lamps, at one time.
.
.
E xciting in sar ies, howe ver, has var10us dtsad vantages.
F irst of ~11 , the efficiency is of necossity bad , b y the very

THE ELE CTRIC LIGHT OF

LIGHTHOUSES.
EJ..]Jerimen ts made by the L ighthouse Department of
France.*
By AN URE BLONDEL .
(Continued f rom page 146. )
III.-Co~ TINt:ot:s Ct:nnENT D Y~a:uo~: THEIH l' RO
PERTIES .\ N O TilE R KRU L'l'. THEY C l \& .
I N or der t o construct a mach ine with tw_o fi xed r~r;iY(LeS
say of 25 and 50 amperes, we ma y adopt e1.th er a wmd ltJg
with two distinct circuits, cap a ble of bem g used eepa
r at ely or t ogether , or a sin;ple ~i.nding, altering the
curren t either by mea~s of t he. excttmg. cu~rent or by the
introduction of a r esis tance m t he cu cmt. The pro
parties of the mach ine a nd the choice of the system to
be adopted d epend esse n t ially on the method of ex
citing.
E ..

d
d
Shumtwound D.unamos. - ~Cl tt~g m shun~ ts p ro uce ,
as we k now by the aid of a 01rcU1t of fine wue wound on
the electro ~afln ets and connected t-itb er to the brushes
or to t he terminals of the machine. The shape of the

}t

France* u nder the direction of I ns pector -q.eneral B.0

d elles with t h e aid of a. n ew J en es m ach1n~, sp dCIC Y
m ade f or t he service by ~IM. Sautter, Ha.rl e, an
emb odying importa n t improveme nts over t he o~d typ~s,
in p articul a r ~ better effi c1ency a;nd a. mod er ate m ~ens1t~
on shor t circmt ; t h e c'?rresp ondm g p ower, h owever, re
mained excessive, a n d 1t was. n ecessa ry to have r ecour se
.
to the a rtifi ce of the antomattc coupler.
The makers had reduced as much a s p osstble t~e sec
tion of the iron of the electro-m agnets and th e resistan~e
of the m agnetic cir cuit by the use of a. very narrow. air
gap a nd of la rge s ur face, in order t o obtain " er y ra.p1dly
the magnetic saturation. ';fhey h ad !l'l~o r educed the ~x
p enditure in the exciting mrcmt by glVm g a la r ge sect~on
to the copper wire on the elec.tro magnets. rr:h e r esist a nce of the electro-magnets . mtght ? ave. been IDCreased,
m or eover with out in con ventence, s m ce It was n eceseat Y
t o add a ; esistan ce coil in the circui t.
T o obtain with this machine the two eurrents of 25 and
50 am peres, t he winding s of ~he electro-magnet s ~ere
arra nged in t wo separate bobbm s, so t ha.t b y tAle at~ of
a special commutator they could be .group ed a s desu ed
in series for t h e 25-amper e curren t, or ID par allel for the 50.

Volt.s
80

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characteristic is in some respect s of ad ,.a ntage ; on sho~t

circuit the inten sity, far from b ecommg d an gerous, 1s
reduced to zer o ; as a consequence t h ere is no p ulling llp
of the motor at starting. But it is difficult to realise in
the normal r~ime the desired slope without a p proaching
too n ear the limit of demagnet isation ; it is then almost
a n ecessity to employ in ad dition a small rh eost at .
A trial of a ~~chine o~ this ty.J?e was made at th~
lighthouse estabhshmen t m 18~2 w1th the current of . 2o
amperes. The working was sat1s factory, ~ rheostat be~ng
added ; but the machine became u nexet ted too easily,
especiall y when the light was star ted. t It has, ther efore,
been put aside p rovision ally. But we sh all see later on
how, with some modificatione:, t his type may become
useful.
Series Dyw.zmos.- T he windings of the electro-magn ets
are as we know t raver sed by the main curren t itself,
and the charact~ristic at the t erminals of t he dynamo
rises, star ting from a p oint n ear t he origin , to a cer tain
m ax imum M, which it attains with a rapidity so much
great er M the magnetic circuit is more p ermea ble ;
t hen it falls with a rapidity so m uch greater as the r e
sistance of the windings of the electro-magnets and
a r mature is greater. The st eadiness of the arc requ ir es
that the machine should be mad e to do wor k in excess of
its maximum, t hat is to say, with t he electro-magn ets
ea turated . The magnetic react ion of the ar mature b eing

'I

....."

circ umstan ce of the st eadying r esistance ; it m a tters not

wh et her this is within t he machine or outsid e of it; if it
a bsorbs for exam ple 15 volts {which is a min imum) and
the arc 50, the elect ric efficien cy could n ot exceed
8g = 0. 77, and as a m atter of fact , th e F oucault currents,
hyst eresis, friction , &c., bring it dcwn t o less tha n 0. 70.
In the second place1 excitin g in ser ies gives, on short
circu it, too great an m tensity, and is often d angerou s to
the machine. A t the same time th e p ower a bsorbed may
be s ufficiently gr eat to p ull up the mot or as by a. brake,
a t every accidental short cir cuit , a nd e ven on lighting of
the arc, which is almost equ ivalent to a sh ort circu it.
F inally, every in terruption of th e arc interrupts the r egu
lation of t he arc-lam p and d emagnetises the machinery ,
at the same time t hat it causes the m otor, su ddenly left
without load, to r ace. T o m itigat e these two last incon
veniences an a utomatic coupler is used, which closes the
circuit t hrough a resist an ce equ;.l t o that of the arc, bu t
this contri van ce, easily capa ble of getting out of order,
com plicat es t he installation without ineur ing safe
work ing.
T hese serious inconvenien ces have h ith erto r ender ed
abort ive the \'arious at t empts made to int roduce into
li~htbou ses ser ies m ach ines. A t t h e L izard (England ),
S tamen s dynamos, ad opted in 1879, h ave had t o be quickly
replaced by D e M eriten s magneto m achines in conseqUEmce of d eter iorat ion in the a rm at ure a nd the commu
t a.t ors, arising from t oo powerful curren ts. M ore thor ough
experimen ts, carried on for a. year in 1886 a.b 1-Ia.y I sland
* Paper read at the International 1\I ar it ime Congress, (Scot land ) wit h the cooperation of t he Brush Company,
have also yielded no r esults, which seems to be due p artly
L :mdon 1\!eeting.
t The lighting waJ only successful when ver y qu ickly to the machine and part ly t o the arrangements of the
perform~d ; it invol ves a. k nack of which th e a ttendants lamp.
The qu est ion has been tak en u p again q uite recently in
would not on all occasion s be mast ers.

The number of ampe re t ur ns of t he exciting curren t

mained t hus the same in b oth cases, and co nsequ~ '\
also the electromoti ve force induced. If the int~ 4
r esist a nce of the armature is n eglect ed com par ed wit~ ,. ~
of the electro-magn et s, the pressure at the ter minals o~~ ....
to have been the same in both cases. In fact, th e comp en&.
t ion was not p er fect, and b ad t o b e completed with the h elp
of th e r esista n ce. Fig. 4, on p age 143 an te, represent~ the
external cb a ract t-ristics AB, CM, taken at t he t erm ma.ls
of t he machine. \Ve see that the slop e was in sufficien t ,
especially with the 25-amp e re current, with ou t the resist
a nce, which a bsorbed about 10 volt s. The appa rent slope
was then from 0.42 t o 0.60. In these conditions the steadi
n ess of the mach ine and of the lamp descri bed a bove,
tak en together 1 was still insufficient. t It was n eces
sary, be~ides, ID order t o bring the carb ons together
* The Central F ren ch Adm inistrat ion h ad already (in
1881), under the direction of M. Allard, mad e som e experi
m enta on the Gramme d yn am o. In spite of its inconvenien ces this machine was superior t o the mach in e of the
Alliance, and would, perhaps, h a ve b een a dop ted if the
machine of M erit en s which b ad j ust been in vented bad
n ot shown striking superiority t o i t. On e of these
dynam os, preserved in the D epot des Pha reea, bad been
con structed specially in view of the ser vice, and could
furnish t wo currents by mean s of a change of coupling
in the armatur e. It exh ibits in a striking manner all the
in con venien ce<l ab ove enumerated , and would very lik ely
h ave c aused man y diffic ulties in t h e ser vice.
t The lack of sen sitiven ess of the lamp is easily explained
hy the fact th g.t its r elay is wound as a shunt, an arrange
m ent which would only properly suit a m or e inclined
characterist ic.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
in case of extinction, to employ an automatic coupler,
closing the circuit through a sufficient resistance to maintain at the terminals the 55 to 60 volts necessary to bring
the relay into play. To obviate these inconvemences the
winding in simple series bad to be abandoned in favour
of the partial compound winding of which we shall presently speak.
Compo11md Dynamtos for Consta;ntPotential. -Compoundin~ consists, as is known, in adding to the series exciting
cotl of the electro-magnets a. shunt winding of fine wire.
In this way we may obtain, by progressively increasing
the shunt winding, characteristics ending at the same
short circuit point C (Fig. 4), but rising more and more
with the smaller current. In most industrial applications,
and also now in the navy, the design is made such that
the curve shows a considerable portion of its length almost
horizontal, and tna.t consequently the machine furnishes
a constant potential within the hmits of its use. Experiments were undertaken in the Lighthouse Department
in 1890 on a constant potential machine by Messrs.
Sautter, Harle, and Co. The three currents could be obtained from the same machine without any change except
in the resistance of a rheostat placed in the circuit ; the
constant pressure being in fact 70 volts, it was sufficient,
in order to bring the pressure at the terminals to 50 volts,
to intercalate the resistances
ri

= 20
. ohms ; r ... = -20 ohms , r 3 = -20 oh ms,
25

50

100

gi ving as slopes figures approximating t o those indicated above. The loss of efficiency outside the arc
in the three cases, allowing 45 volts at the arc, is always
.
25 volts = 0. 36. Th'1s so1u t'1on 1s
. srmp
. 1e
the same-viz.,
70 volts
in appearance, but it is not a. better one than the series
machine with equal steadying resistance in the main
circuit ; it requires s.lso a supplementary expen~~
ture for exciting the fine wire circuit. It has been
definitely abandoned because of the danger of short circuiting.
Dynamos Partially Compounded.-In pla{}e of complete
compounding, it is better to employ a. partial compounding. This has been done by MM. Sautter, Harie, and
Co. with a series machine, whose results have been given
above.* They have replaced a part of the thick wire
circuit by fine wire, a.s the Table below indicates :
Data of construction of dynamos by MM. Sautter,
Ha.rle, and Co. partially compounded :
Armature : Wire, 2. 5 millimetres; 300 turns ; R = 0.129
ohms. Soft iron core :Exterior diameter, 292 millimetres;
internal diameter, 295 millimetres.
Electro-magnets: Shunt wire, 1.8 millimetres; 4800
turns ; R = 21 ohms. Series wire, 5 millimetres ; 57 4
turns on the two magnet bobbins; R in series = 0:48.
Section of iron cores, 117 square centimetres; a.tr gap,
6 millimetres. Induction in the armature, 16,100 c.g.s.;
in the electro-magnets, 16,8~0 c.g.s. Field ~thin the
pole pieces, 3000 c.g.s. Effimency of the ma.chme alone:
a.t 25 amperes, 67.5 per cent.; at 50 amperes, 75 per
oent.
.
.
The characteristic a.t 25 amperes and 650 revo.lutl~?s IS
represented comE_ara.tively by the curve DF m 1! 1e:. 4
(page 143 ant6). The curve obtained is seen to besens1bly
greater than before the compounding. It is for that purpose that the fine wire has been placed. in shunt to the
terminals and that the speed has been mcreased so as t_o
give 65 v~lts on open circuit, instead of the 55 volts anticipated by the makers ; the excess of voltage (8 to 10
volts) is a.l;>sorbed by a. resis~~nce.
In order to produce a.t wtll oux:rents. of 25. a~d 50 amperes in each machine, the two th10k wire wmdmgs need
only be coupled, either in series or paral~el, by ~~ans of
the commutators of the switchboard (F1g. 9), ~1vmg, of
conrse in each case a. different value to the res1stance of
the rh~osta.t. To get a.n output of 100 amperes, the two
50-a.mpere dynamos. are coupled in p~rallel. All these
operations are ca.rrted out by the a.1d of three levers
alone, which actuate all the switches.a.t <?nce. Thaa~s to
this arrangement, the extreme comphcat10n of the switchboard does not trouble the atten~a.nts..
. . .
The experiments carrie.d out Wlth thts. ma.ohm~ m 18~2
h he Lighthouse Establishment have y1elded fa.trly satts:aclory r esults ; they will shortly be recommenced at the
lighthouse of La. H eve.
.
.
But two important disad vanta.ges are now recogmsed m
the use of these machines :
1. The somewhat excessive power which they always
absorb on short circuit ;
.
.
2. The rather poor efficiency of the machme, and of Its
steadying resistance, taken togetb~r.
Admittin~, in fa.ct, _ that the res.1sta.nce absorbs 8 volts,
the efficienmes given m the precedmg Table should be reduced to 0.58 and ~.65; this last fis-?re is less than that
actually obtained Wlth magneto machines.
Possible Improvements.-In spite of the perfect manner
in which the forego~ng ma.c~ines h~ve been const~ucted,
they have only a.tta.tned the1r stea.dmess bY: th~ a1~ of a.
somewhat considerable resistance of the sen es 01rcU1t and
of a complete saturation of the electro-ma~nets. It seems
tha.t the sa.me result might be ar~i ved a.t m a. ~ore ~cono
mical manner by effecting a part1al comp_oundmg m the
inverse sense-that is .to. say, . by. addmg ~o a shunt
machine a. number of coils 1? ser1es, Just suffi.cten_t to prevent its becoming dema.gnet1sed and to a.llo.w _of Its starting . in this way a. very inclined cbara.cterlsttc would. be
obt~ined analogous to that of a constant current mach1~e,
with magnets not much saturated, and consequently w1th
a. higher efficiency. This might probab~y reach 70 per
cent. with 25 amperes, and 80 per cent. With 50 amperes;

[AuG. I H, I 893.

a machine of this kind would, moreover, embody all the

desiderata. previously mentioned. *
The two currents could be obtained either by the aid of
a. circuit with two armatures, or by a. modification of the
existing current in shunt or series. In the latter case the
characteristics would be analogous to thos~ of Fig. 7.
III.-UsE

OF ALTRRNATE CuRRENTs .

SECTION I. - Properties an d Effects of the Alternate Cwrrent

Arc.
Ckmstiflution and Properties.-The a.rc produced by
alternate currents results from a. transport of carbon, no
longer continuous and constant, but variable and alternate. t At the same time that the direction of the current
changes, the arc is extinguished in a. more or less gradual
manner.! This extinction is not perceptible to the eye
above a frequency of 40 per second; but, below this value,
it produces a. barely perceptible twinkling. As it is diffi
cult to obtain alternators of small power and of slow
speed giving a high b equencyt we should be content with
a. frequency not much larger tna.n this minimum. It will
be seen later that no inconvenience arises from this in
rE>.spect of the intrinsic brightness.
To produce an alternate current a.ro with a frequency of
50, the minimum pressure of about 25 volts need only be
attained or surpassed during a fraction of the alternation
of something like half; the average pressure is then lower
than that for the continuous current arc. A lighthouse
arc requires, length and intensity being equal, an alternate
current of 45 volts instead of a. continuous current of 50 to
55.
T~e true power {P) expended in a.n alternate-current
arc IS always less than the apparent J?Ower (E I). The
ratio of these two quantities, a.ccordmg to numerous
measurements which I have made with the help of the
wattmeter, or by means of the periodic curves, stands on
a.n average at the following figures for arcs whose frequency is 50 :
Coefficient
of Power,
Arc.

EI
0.90 to 0. 95

Steady and silent .. .

.. .
. ..
Noisy and unsteady (with a. separation of 2 to 5 millimetres) .. .
0.85 , 0. 90
Hissing and striking
...
.. .
0. 75 , 0.80
Conditions of Steadiness.-The steadiness of the alternate current arc requires, in addition, that ~he a.vaila~le
electromotive force employe~ should b~ sens~bly sup~r1or
to the difference of potent1al a.t the termmals, etther
because the arc behaves during each infinitely small
period of time just like a. continuous-current arc, or because
after each extinction a.n increased pressure is necessary to
relight the arc. Num~rous experiments have sbo~ that
for a lighthouse arc of 25 amperes and 45 volts wtth hard
carbons, such as those described later on, it is necessary
to have a.t command a.n induced electromotive force of at
least 60 volts.
In order to bring back the pressure at the terminals of
the lamp to 45 volts, a resistance is no longer inter~~ated,
but self-induction, which, while giving more ela.sttc1ty to
the arc, does not absorb energy. This being so, ther~ is
nothing to prevent the employment of a.n electromot1ve
force of 75 to 85 volts, and obtaining by this means exceptionally steady arcs, which relight of themselves when
they are blown out or extinguished.
Distribution of the Light.-Thanks to the form of the
points of the carbons, the light can be directed almost
equally to all parts of the lenses in contradistinction to
what occurs in the case of continuous currents. The
form of the curve of light distribution given by M.
Alla.rd is only applicable to arcs of very small length. It
would probably be suitable to th~ ar~ ligh~ of .St. Ca.therine (Isle of Wight), the separa.t10n 1n whiCh 1s not more
than i millimetre, and the pressure only from 35. to 38
vol bs. With an arc so short, almost a.lyvays on _thepomt of
sticking together, the surfaces of maxtmum brtgh~ness are
almost oom~letely shaded by the carbons, and It seems
hard to beheve tha.tl the highest efficiency could be
.
realised in this way, as some have asserted. .
In France it is preferred to employ a genu me arc, w1th
a pressure of 45 volts, corresponding to a. separation of
4 to 5 millimetres for the current of 25 amperes, and exposing the bright surfaces. The part played a~ a. lig~tin~
agent by these is then shown by the curve of hghtdtstrlbution which asaumes the appearance of a butterfly
(Fig. S) giving maxima in directions having an inclination of' 45 deg. , the superiority of which over the h<?rizontal intensity becomes more marked as the separa.t1on
is made greater.
.
I ntrilnsic Br,ghtn ess.-Itwould seem tha.~ the ma.x1mum
intrinsic brightness ought to be less than ID the case of
the continuous current arc, since ea;ch s_urface only acts as
a positive pole during one alternat10n m every two, and
even less, and can thus cool dur~n~ the remain~er of each
period. As a. matter of fact, thts lS the case w_tth arcs of
very small intensity (8 to 10 a.m.Peres). B':lt 1~ thos~ of
25 amperes and upwards, the pertod of extmct10n bemg
very short, and each crater being smaller bha.n the aver~ge
intensity would require, the measurements made w1th

- * The only difficulty would b~ to insure the magnetisation considering the great r eststa.nce of th~ shunt and
the ~mall value of the series winding. The sparks from
the brushes would be easily avoided by th~ use of the
"Manchester" type with divided electro-magnets.
t In the first "Alliance" machines the currents were
rectified by the aid of a. commutator ; the arc was not
then alternate, but simply intermittent.
:!: A complete study of th~e phenom~na. 'Y,ill be fou~d
in two other works-" Lurmere Eleotr1que, vol. xln.,
1891 ; vol. xliii. Jan., 1892, &~.
,
.
* The external appearance of t~e ma.chi~e is represented Dec.
/, M emoire sur les Phases Electnques, Plate I., Fig. 4.
by Fig. 5 J the elevation and sect10n by F1g. 6.

the L e Cha.telier pyrophotometer at a frequency of 50

have not shown any appreciable difference. The maximum brightness does not even vary to any extent with
the intensity or with the separation. But the same
reservations as in the case of the continuous current,
must be made as far a.s the average brightness is concerned.
Practical E.ff'ect with Different Cu?rents.-To appreciate
the ultimate effect in the OJ;>tical apparatus, we come back
then once more to the quest10n of occultations. The bi-focal
arrangement devised by Inspector-General Bourdelles,
which consists in placing the focus of the dioptric drum
(Fig. 1, page 144 artte) at the centre of the incandescent
part of the lower carbon, and the focus of the catadioptric
rings a.t the centre of the incandescent part of the upper
carbon theoretically allows of nearly all the focal rays
of th~ apparatus passing. by the_ surfa?es of .maximum brig?-tness.
~ut m ~ract1ce . th1~ maxtmum
efficiency 1s not reahsed, owmg to mev1table o.cculta.tions, and to a.n effect analogous to that already pomted
out in the case of continuous currents. The power of
the pencil still increases with the intensity of the current,
as is shown by the following Table, which I borrow from
the paper already quoted, only adding the column of true
effiotenci es :*
Diameters
of the
Carbons.

Amp~res.

-25

10
16
25

Appa- I Tl'ue
Volts. r eot
Watts.
Watts. I

.Effi-

Oarcels
of Ten
Candles.

c1enoy
per
Watt.

1,200,000
1,800,000
2,801),000

1120
840
512

I_

45
45
45

60
1oo

1125
2250
4500

1070
2140
4276

The explanation of . this phenomenon ~ight be sought

in the same ea.uses as In the case of contmuous currents.
However that may be, as the luminous power only increases slightly in comparison to the expenditure of
energy, there could be no advantage in going further in
th1s direction, and it wou_ld be preferable~ in accorda.~ce
with the curious observa.t10n of M. Bouraelles, t to umte
several lights of small intensity in separate lenses.
However, if we have to employ later on lens.es of
greater dia.m~ters (3rd, 2nd, and 1s~ order),_ the period of
brightness bet.ng less than the. ~a.x1mum tlme of p~r~p
tion, all the hght would be utilised ; and even adm1ttmg
that the brightness would remain the same, there would
be an advantage in increasing, within certain limits, the
power of the arc.
Choice of Carbons, Diameter, and Sepa;rati<Yn.-For the
same reason as with continuous currents, we employ the
hardest possible carbons. The specific resistance of
" Carre " carbons, which give excellent results, increases
with the diameter; it may be estimated on a.n average at
7000 to 8000 microhms. The smallest admissible dimensions, and consequently the most satisfactory, are indicated in the preceding Table. They correspond to currents of 0.315, 0.25, and 0.24 amperes per square millimetre.
This current density might be further increased, and
consequently the diameter diminished, by the employ
ment of carbons ligbtly coated with copper (r\ millimetre), so that the mel_tin~ of the copper ma.~ no~ produce
any accidental shunt ctrcUit, followed by extmct10n.
The arc cannot be made longer than 10 to 15 millimetres
without producing a. large flame. Geometrically it
appears sufficient to serarate the parts raised to the
maximum brightness unti the distance is equal to half the
diameter of the terminal faces, or about a. quarter the
diameter of the carbons, tbat is to say, to 6 millimetres
for arcs of 100 amperes. The two foci of bi-focal lenses
being a.t 1 ceutimetre a. part, we are thus assured that the
focal rays pass through the incandescent portions. The
corresponding pressure, which is about 45 volts, has been
allowed for all the currents in order not to complicate the
service whilst realising the maximum power of the De
Meritens machines ab the speed of 550 revolutions. To
determine directly the best distance between the carbons
a series of experiments should be made with the same iJ?-tensity of current. The measurements made on thlB
point a.b the Lighthouse Department (Jfrance) have
only ava.iled to establish that in bi-focal lenses, 1\nd with
ma.gn(:)to machines, the 1\ctua.l currents v;ere higher than
those that would be obtained by increasing the separation,
as the following Table shows :
_en

oc
0

(.)

... .o
~:a

c
....ce.>
...
cnce

G>Q

ea>

Q ~

mm.
16
16
10
10
10

G>

G>

....c

en

...::s

-c

Cl)

....

1-4

mm.

amp~ res

50
46
25

2250
2250

23

volts
45
50
45
47

19

52

2140
2140
1069
1026
939

15
4

6
8

1125

1080
988

>.

-So
c~

Cor
rected .

G>

G>
$lo

CD

::s
0

Appar ent.

....

.... <s:l.

.~ .d

...

Electric Power.

Q)

::Sjl.j
~

1,925,000
1,140,000
1,110,000
1,014,000
720,000

(.)

c:

G> . .

........
(.)ce
le~

l:';l;l

900
532
1032
980
771

But these conclusiOns would not necessarily

apply to
different types of machine or optical apparatus.

(To be contin'Ued.)

GERMAN PA'l'ENTS.-The German Patent Office receivad

last year 13,126 applications, and granted 5900 patents, as
against 12,919 a.pphcations a.nd 5550 patents in 1891. It thus
appears that 55 !?er cent. of all the applications on which
fees had been pa.td wererejeoted.
* These figures ha. ve no concrete meaning, they are
merely a. verages.
t ~ee "Notice sur les Appa.reils presentes a l'Exposi
tion de Chicago," page 74.

E N G I N E R I N G.

AuG. 18, 1893.]

"ENGINEERING" ILLUSTRATED PATENT
RECORD.
OOMPILED BY

w.

with a. liquid such as glycerine, and a port is provided rods. One a rm of the trip lever B is ar!anged so as, under
from the top to the bottom, cooks being attached on t his cer tain tonditions, to come in contact w1th the surface U.. cf
passage between the top and bottom of the cylinfler, by the cam G. K is a bard level toe-piece on lever B, and M 1s a

LLOYD WISE.

BELB<n'RD ABSTRACTS OF RECENT PUBLISHED 8PEOIFIOATIOli8

UNDER THE ACTS 1883-1888.
The number of views given in the Specification Drawngs ts stated
in each case; where n<n~.e are mentioned, the Specification il
1wt illmtrated.
Where l nventi<nts art. communicated from abroad, the Na/TTitB
t!tc. , of the Corrvmunicators are given i n italics.
Copies of Specifications may be obtained at the Patent Offu;e
Sale Branch, 38, Cursitor-street, Clw;ncery-la!ne, E.C., at the
uniform price of Bd.
The date of the advertisement of the acceptance of a complete
specification is, in each case, g iven after the abstract, unless the
Patent has been sealed, when the date of sealing is given.
A ny person may at any time within two mcn.thsfrom the date (lf
the advertisement of the acceptance of a complete specification,
give notice at the Patent Ojfice of opr:osition to the gramt of a
Patent on any of the grounils m entioned in the ..4ct.

.Fig.2.

Pig. 7.

Pig.1.

11Z8'

MACHINE TOOLS, SHAFTING, &c.

which the area through wb.ich the flui d has t~ pass can be ':ari~d
15,492. B. B. Lake, London. (J. F. A . lloper and ..4. according to the time wh1ch the regulator 1e t o occupy 10 1ts
Jact~bson, Ilami.Jur,q, Germany). Lubricating Machinery. action. (..Accepted J uly 5, 1b93).
(6 Fi.as.] August 29, 1892. -This in,ention relates to a method
21,436. F. 0. Ruppert, Chemnltz, Saxony.
of lubricating machinery intermittently with the aid of the electric curren t by utilising the p roperty of the latter of causing the Mechanical Stoker. [4 Figs. ) November 24, 1892 - Tbie

I
in
vention
r
elates
to
appa
ratus
for
supplying
fuel
to
boiler,

heating of t he conductor through which it flo ws at points where

the resistance in the conductor exceeds a certain amount. In &o., furnaces. B is a hopper containing the fuel which is to
be introduced into the furnace. Next to and between it and t he
furnace is the compartment A, containing the feeding roller
.9 and the shovel b. The feed ing roller g is formed with projec......

tions by which the fuel is fed forward upon the rotation of the
~ "'
roller . The shovel b consists of a bar attach ed by arms I.JI to the
shaft a.. The fuel hopper B is provided with a fta.t door e, and the
compartment A with a. flap door f, through which the attendant
removes cinders. To preven t the fu el being thrown about un necessarily, a varying speed of rotation is imparted to the shaft (1,
to which the shovel is secured, so that it attains its maximum speed
nsJJ
at the mo ment t he fuel is d ischarged from the shovel. This
varying speed is obt ained by proYiding t he sha ft a. with a crank t,
the pin of whic h, i , slides in a. crank h, secured to t he driving second similar toe-piece on lever D, the aides of these levers at L
pulley ~ or to its shaft R . This shaft R is suppor ted by a lever k beitog made sloping. The t rip lever B is further provided with
a hardened surface J , where it bears upon t he valve-rod A.
(.Accepted J uly 5, 1893).

..

15,069. M.

single lubricating recep tacles, tilled with pas ty g rease, a re

arranged bodies , consisting of a material adapted for cond ucting the electric current, the two ends of the body bei ng joined to
the conducting wired dl. The body differs from the conducting
wire in offering so much more resistance to the current that the
latter in its flow through the body causes it to be heated. (Jiccepted J uly 6, 1893).

c.

Drory, Marseilles, France. Boilers.

[5 F igs.] August 20, 1892.-Tbie invention r elates to multitubuJar

boilers having horizontal and vertico.l t ubes a and b respectively,

--.
. .-.........._
___
...
.. - - -

completely inclosing the furnace and forming a combuet1on cham-

'

~ . 1.

B.g . 2.

STEAM ENGINES AND BOILERS.

7279. K. Goldsdorf, Vienna, Austro - Hungary.
Compound Locomotive Engines. [7 Figs.) April 8,

1893.-This invention has for its object to provide m eans for

starting compound locomotive engines in whatever position the
cranks may be. The slide valve face of the lowpr essure cylinder is constructed with two ports a in communication with
the main steam pipe, and so a rranged that during the ordinary
operation of the engine they r emain closed by the action of the

s
---- ---------------

Ft:J . 1.
--

photed at S, so that the operative length of the crank h may be

alLered by moving the lever k as desired . An arm n. is attached
to the lever k by a. movable socket by which the operati ve length
of the lever k is altered and the crank h influenced. The other
end of the arm n is attached to a disc l , which eer,es as a c rankwhf'el with an adjustable pin, this crank being also Yariable
within cer tain limits, and having its effect upon the lever k and
t he crank h. When the pulley S or the abaft R i9 rotated, the
shovel shaft also revolves, owing to the engagement of tlbe slotted
crank h with the pin of the crank t. The speed of rotation of the
crank t and the abaft a. is, however , vary ing, the g reatest speed
being attained when the cranks are in the position (Fig. 2) when
the crankpin i is at its g r eatest distance from the c entre of the
dri ving shaft R. When the cranks are in their diametrically
opposite positions the speed of the shaft a. ie at ita m inimum, as
in this case the pin i is at its neares t to the centre of the shaft R,
and is conse-quently driven by a very much shorter crank. (..4 ccepted July 5, 1893).

p f '.
6
:

0.

'

. :t.

B. W. Widmark, Helsingborg, Sweden.

Valve Motions for Steam, &c., Engines. [4 Figs.l
15,508.

ber, the products of combustion passing t hroug h the cluster of

vertical tubes e into a smokebox e l placed at the front, the tubes
being connected to each other by means of screw threads, short
tubes being ex panded in them, so that a tight joint is provided.
(.Accepted J u ly 6, 1893).

14,145. J. Proctor, Burnley, Lancs. Mechanical

Stokers. [6 F igs.) August 6, 1892. -This invention relates to

mechanical stokers for steam boiler furnaces, in which a radial

shovel is employed for throwing the fuel into the furnace. A
shovel box a and shovel b about 4 in. or 6 in. wide a re employed,
an opening c c1 being made on eg.ch side, so t hat the stoker can

Ftg .1

.z.

----

August 29, 1892.-Tbie invention relates to valve gear in which

the valve spindle is moved by a lever connected by a link to a
elide valve of t he cylinder , but when the point of c ut-off is slot link block and by another link to the crosehead of the
exceeded they are alternately opened so that steam is admitted piston-rod, the slot link r eceiving i ts motion from the piston-rod.
to that port of the low-pressure cylinder which corresponds to
t he desired direction of motion, the engine being thus started
by the low-pressure piston alone, and when the counterpr essure
exerted on one side of the high-pressure cylinder is overcome
at any time inspect and t r im the tire, these openings being proby steam admitted on the ot her side, and the port a has been
vided with doors d . The spreader is composed of two angular
closed, the engine can be star ted by the high-pressure piston
plates joined together at their lower edges, and extending upalone. (Jiccepted J une 28, 1893).
wards, inwards, and away from each other towards the top, so
12,286. G. Edgar and J. Saxton, Sheffield, Yorks.
t hat the fuel will be distributed equally over both sides of the tire
Automatically Regulating the Supply of Air to
and offer little resistance to the passage of the fuel. (Ji ccepted
,
I
Steam Boiler, &c., Furnaces. (4 F igs.] July 2, 1892.J uly 5, 1893).

The objects of this invenUon are to provide means by which the

~
\
13,717. M. B. Roblnson, Thames Dltton, Surrey.
admission of air to furnaces may be automatically r egulated, more
' . . ....
CutOft'Gear of Steam Engines. [4 Figs. ] July 27, 1892.
ptuticnlarly during and immediately after the operation of tiring,
so as to insure combustion and abatement of smoke, also at the
same time t o provide a n arra ngement s o that when the appara tus
has once been properly set and a.dj 118ted, the operation of tiring canno t be perfor med without the apparatus being brought into action.
An opening is provided for t.be passa.ge of air in the lower part of the The connecting-rod and slot link D are connected by a lever F
b ridge below the fi re bare of the furnace, this opening being fitted jointed to the former at N, a short link I connecting the centre
wi th a door which can be opened and closed by a rod brough t to M on the slot link arm H to a point intermediate in the length
t he front of the furnace. The end of this rod ie connected to a of lever F ; the vertical distance from M to N r emaining constant
lever fixed to a abaft plac~d acrose the lower part of the furnace in all positions, and the angularity of the link I compensating
front. On this shaft t wo levers are fixed, the first of which is t hat of t he lever F. (J!ccepted Jtt-ly 6, 1893).
actuated by a corresponding lever attached either to the fl redoor
17,883. R. ThornewW and A. Davies, Burtonon
or to the hi'lged bolt of the tiredoor, eo as to allow of the latter Trent, Stafts. Winding Engines. (2 Figs.) October 6,
being partially opened to examine t he tire, but not sufficiently t o 1892:- This invention has for its object to provide a method of
allow of firing 'vi&bout these levers coming into contact, so that eut~mg off the steam and all<?win~ for ex'Pansion in winding, &c.,
when the tiredoor is fully opened for firing, the le,ere cause the engmes, wher e the speed raptdly mcreases from zero, and where
shaft to turn and open the door in the lower part of the bridge, it ie desirable to work expansively at an early portion of the stroke
and at the same time a counecting-rod atta ch ed to the second whereas the maximum power is required at the start. Pivoted
lever on the last shaft is eet in motion and actuates a beam com- to ~he s~eam valve-rod A is !1- bellcrank lever B, the short a rm of
municating with the regulator. The resrulator consists of a wbtcb IS pressed by a sprmg C. D is an actuating lever on :l. -The object of t his invention is to enahle the point of cut-oft to
cylinder fi tted with a bucket provided with a Yalve, the rod ahc;>rt s~aft d mounted on a fixed pedestal. Working free on this be automatically varied in single-acting engines described in
of which is a t tached to the beam. This cylinder ie tilled ax1e d e a cam G. The KOvernor H is linked to the cam G by Patents Nos. 13,769 of 1884 and 1862 of 1885. The val ve A worke

.-

R N G I N E E R l N G.
in a steam chest B to whic h steam is admitted by the pipe C.
One of ite edges works to and fr o over a por t which c :>mmunicatee
"- ith the passage D leading into the cylinder E . The val ve A is
connected by a rod to an eccentric controlltd by the goYernor so
a.s to ,ary the t ra vel of the val\'e and cause it to out off stt>am
either earlier or later in the strok e as required, the eccen t ric
at~) causing the valve to open at the p ropt>r periods for admi88ion.
The valve lt' which works inside the hollow piston-rod G is used
solely as an exhaust valve. At the bottom of the stroke the valve
F rises above the lower edge of the por ts H, and allows the steam
which is on the upper side of the piston to p388 through them and
the ports I to the lower side during the upstroke of the engine.
( Accepted July 6, 1893).

Foundries, &c.

[l Fig. ] June 2 l, 1892.- Tbc apparatus

consists of a pan A raised from the g round on lege. T oo bottom
of the '' easel is fitted with a sieve B made of "ire gauze. Oo
the upper flange is fitted a n a rched frame, which carries a ver tical shaft, to t h e lower end of which is fitted a cross C, each arm
being p rovided on its underside with teeth D. t h e cor ners of
which are in line with the radius o f the a rms. The lower ends of
these teeth a re tapered and alightly bent. The teo.th in the arms

[AuG.

1 S,

1893.

next r eleasee a catch I whiob holds up the clampiug d isc b l lly

pressing ago.inet a roller 1{ o n the rod v, and this d isc is the refor~
forced down by its s pring F upon the two piles of pamphlets.
The machine is then etarted; the clamp andl be' utter c d escend,
and tb e cutter trims those edges of the two piles which a e
beneath it.. T he c uttu and c lamp n xt riee tbrou~h the auto.
matic a c tion of tbe machine, and wh en tht>y a re dear of the
piles these receive a quutt>r revolutton together '"it.h the discs
s, sl, between which tht>y are held. The clamp and cu~te r c then
again descend and out the fore-ed ge of one cf the }Jiles. The
cutter and clamp having a g~ in risen, the piles and discs recehe
E\notber quarter tu r n, so that In the third d escent of the cutter

MISCELLANEOUS.
11,500. J. Keellng, Stanhope, Durham. Brake
Apparatus for Travelling Cranes &c. [4 Figs.) June
20, 1892.-This invention r elates to br ake appar atus fo r the
wheels of t ravelling c ranes, which can be applied whatever posi
tion the crane is in. A long steel rod a is furnished at one end
with a small wheel b ca r rying a handle c near its outer end , by
wh ich t h e rod can be turned . This rod passes throug h a bearing,
and is eorewed at its other extremity eo as to engage with the

Fig.Z.
.. .

Fr.g.1

sc rew-thr eaded end of one ann of a bellcrank lever, thE' oth er

a r m of which is pivoted to a connt ct ingrod, the end of this rod
beinsr secured to a p latfv rm suppor ted by two standards on the
under frame of the c rane. F rom the centre of t his platform and
extending downward underneat h the f rame is a. l ong r od, the free
extr emity of which is p i\oted to one arm of a bellcrank lever
which actuates a set or toggle levers, by which the brake shoes
are applied to the "heels a<J in a locomotive. The brake can be
worked by steam. (A ccep'ed June 21, 1893).

W. P . T h ompson. Liverpool. (E. Ni .,hoJ/,

Tacoma, P ierce, Wa<thington, U.S. A.)
:Raising Sunken
Vessels. (3 F igs. l May 9, 1S93. - T his invention relates to
9312.

means for raisinfr sunken vc ssele, and comprises an air bag p ro"ided with a T -coupling, one of ita b ranches h aving a cut-oft ar.d
mP a'~B for attachment to the pipe E, its other b ranch being pro' ided with a p ressure gauge, so that the attendant under water is
enabled to r egulate the pressut e of the air in the bag. T he tube

1~ 1
F

- ---

--

-- --

------

the tail of the first pile and the b ead of the second are cut.
Having again r isen, and the piles and discs c aving receivtd
of the cr oEs are plac d at different centres, so that. in re,oJving, another quarter turn, the cut tu in its fou rth defcent cuts
the whole <.f the material on the sieve is disturbed. T he upper the fore -edge of tbe other pile. When the clamp an<' cuttu
end of the vertic d s haft is fi ' tE'd wi rh a bc ,el wheel gea red to a rise the fourth t ime, the piles and dieee rc reive ar.otber quart er
similar wheel fixed on a horizontal abaft carried by a bear ing on turn which b rings them back to the starting roeition, the
the abo" e "rched frame. the c,uter end of this shaft carrying a dri\'ing gear being automatically stopped and the clamping dtC
fast -and-loose belt pullPy for driving the cross. (Accepted Jtuu iifted clear of t be piles owing to the roller K raising up the catch I.
'28, 1893).
The pil es, which have each been trim med on 1h ree sidPs, cant hen
he remo,ed by the attendant, and two untrimm<d piles put in
10,813. A. Salles, Paris. Bridges. [19 ~'igs J June their
places. (Accept.ed J uly 5, J S93).
7, 18\U. - This invention relates to the construction of lattice
Rirder s for road, &c., bridges. The girder is constructed in
15,728. W. Gray, Brownrigg, Nor t h B er wick, N.B.,
sections which are made of bars boltEd together so as to be Thrashing Machines. [2 l'iys. J Sep tember 2. l f92.-Tbie
readily connected and d is::onnected, in order that the sections may in vention r elates to feede rs for t hrashi ng machines for rend ering
be transported st>parately and put together in situ. The sections the feeding action automatic and regula r. T he primuy con veyor
are placed so that each o,erlaps the two adjacfnt ones, their con sists of an endless band A of can vas, having r roFs stripR of
dia~onal members crossing, for which pur pose the flat end plates wood on its surface, the band bting distnd ed on and m ov<d by
of the diagonals are offse t from the plain of the main middle rollers B, C, held in bearings in side boards D, the whole forming
portion to admit of the diagonals of one section o rossin~ those of a t rough, which is suppor ted near the str ucture in "hich t he
1he adjacent ones. Th e top and bottom members of the girder tb ra~bing machinery is placed, so that the 6heavee can be trane
are ( acb composed of two series of s hor t lengths, the len~ths of rerred from a vehicle or stack endway s on the endless band A.
Pach being reinforced at the t ode and fi:th-jointed, the two The hands of the sheaves are severed be~e lbe sh eaves leave the
series composing a member breaking joint with ( ach other, and t rough by a circular knife .F, driven by a belt G from a p u lJey H
being set back to back eo. as to form a membt>r of :J E section with on one end of the shaft of the roller C. The sheaves pas from
the ends of the diagonal members between them. (Accepted the upper end of the t r ough on to t he lower end c,f an endle88 con
veyor extending t hrough t h e wall E . The endlrss convE>yor con
Jun.e 6, 1893).
15,729. J. B a rrow, Johnstone, Renfrews, N.B. eista of a number of prongs J, fixed upon a eries cf separate chains
Vertical and Horizonta l Planing Ma chines. (4 Figs. J
N
September 2, 1892.-Thie invention consists in formir.g on the
tool p late and other puts, serrat\ons, the contact faces of the
tool-holders being for mt>d with counterpart serrations. Ou the
tool-plate A and other parte a ser ies of comparatively narrow and
shallow grooves B are formed, the sontact faces C of the tool
holders D having counter part ser rations. Each tool-bolder D is
fixed on brackets E on the tool-plate by means of buckles F.
encompassing them and movable in T grooves 0 formed in the
brackets E, and through the outer part of each of which buckles

. .J .

--

Fig.1.

.Fig.Z.
coupling F (Fig. 2) is p ro vided with th ree cocks/, f l,jZ! and the
ipe E is connected to one of the ~ranc~ee of ~be COU;phng tube,
~bile the other eod of the branch l S prov1de~ w1th a ep1got nozzle.
The cocke.f,J 1 cut off all air from the reseryou and fro~ the b ranch
pipe in which the cook is located respe~t1vely, and f -, when the
ep1got is emploved , can be opened, and 1f tb~ cocks on _the couphog tube oo the bag are opened, part of the atr from th1e bag can
escape at this p oin t. (.d ccepted June 28, 1893).

Vehicles.

[2 Figs.] August 2r., 1892.-;--Tbid in'.entiol_l rel.a tes

to a method of applyi~:>~ the brakes of vehtcles, and tts obJrct ts to
construct one which w11l be controlled by the bor~( e. One end
of the lever A is pivoted to the fore part of the vebtole at a, and

Apr il8, 1893. -Th e object of thte mventt~n IS to pr~v1de means

for automatically effecting and cont~olhng. the dtecharge of
liquids, either in ter mittently when the m_flow 18 not constant 1!-Dd
irregular, or continuously when the flow ts nonstant, and consists

"

.. 0

. ''

; I
I

t
f ,

-.- ...

th e other is connected to the shoe B, to \\ hich is fix< d a rod C

joined to t he middle of a lE:ver D. 'Ibis lever is pi voted at its
screw pins &re tapped to ~lamp the tool-bolder D in positi_on ~\ it.h
its groo,ee N , en(l'aging wttb those of the bracket on whtch It IS
fixed. The brackets E are ad juetably bolted to the tool-plate,
which has T -grooves K formed in it, so that the bolts L fixing the
parte together can be moved up and down. Th e tool-plate A has
several of these T -grooves K forrued in it, so that the dis tance
between the brackets E can be varied for different work . T he
tool-holders D are formed with serrations B on two of their faces C
at right angles to each other, to allow of t heir bein_g secured in
either of two positions, and they a re fixed at some d1stance from
each other , the one being near the top of the brackets E and t he
other on the bottom of the b rack et<J. (A ccepted J uly 5, 1893).

15 495. R.

c.

Anna nd, South Shie lds, Durham.

Paper-Cutting Machines . [2 _ltigs. J Augu~t 29, 1811~.

u,_u 7tSI

ln the use of a. ,atvc V connected to a float arrang_ed i'? a closed

vessel with inlet and outlet orifices, and controll_mg: 1ts outlet
0 cning 80 that when the ftota.ti ve power of the hq utd accum'?-
1iti~g in t h e ,essel exceeds the force~ acting on the t1oat ''~he, 1t
is raised and o ver flow then continues until tb~ force s act10g on
the ftolt'valvc prevail, when the ni.l ve automatically closes. (Ac
cept~d June 28, 1893).
-

J. P . Ball, Sydenbam, and T. Glover,

J)epttord, London. Sand Sifting Machine for
11 537.

l\ , and projecting up tbro\lgh na..rr~w longitu dinal sp_acc~ between

boards L inclinEd upwards to a gu1de M a.t the feedmgm end of
the thrashing machine N. The chains K paee round sprocket
wheels p on shafts Q R, ca rried io bearings at the ends of the
conveyor the upper' shaft Q r eceiving motion th rough a large
Pprocket ~'beE>l S, a similar sprocket whee~ T, on t~e l ower fhaft
R transmitting motion through a pitc h chaJn to a small
sprocket wheel V c;m a eh~rt shaft near the top of 1he ~rough,
which by bevel geanng X dnves the upper roller C carrymg the
canvas band A and pullfy H . A board is fix ed at the side of the
lower end oft be convt>yor oppos~te to the trou~h to pre' e~t the
sheavE s being thrown over that s1de, and the sheMes on falhng on
to the conveyor are carr ied u p wards 1-y t h e prongs J and d~op
down t hrough the guide M, a plate Z, in the h opp er, extendtng
down sufficiently to guide the sheaves properly on to the drum of
the thrashing machine N. (.Accepted J une 5, 1893).

15,254. J. Walker, Glasgow. Applying Brakes of

7251. T. and G. Wllton, Beckton, Essex. Auto~a

ticaUy Controlling the Di~c~arg~ of. Liquid~. [1.Fig.J

Fig .Z .

Rfj .1.

Tbis invention has reference to ~utllotme paper - cutt1n~ macbmee

in which the pile of paper to b~ cut is fed f~om ~bat si~e o~ the
machine which faces the flat stde of the kmfe; 1te ObJect t8 to
provide means for automatically trimming- the ed ges of books,
folded newspapers, &c. The feed ta~le is mac;te so th~t it can _be
mo,ed forwards and backwards, and 10 the m1ddle a Cltcular dtsc
is fi tted which is let in so as to be fl ush with the top. This disc
has an intermittent rotary motion, each of its movements bein~
equal to one-fourth of a re,olution. The clamp and the cu.tter c
bE:iog in their rai~:~ed posi~ion, t he a~t ~~dan~ places a. p1le of
material upon the table q with the " ta1l agamet the gauge u,
the " bead" towards the cutter, and ~h~ "b&:ck" agait;lBti t h e
t h e ride-e t on the disc s. He l>lacee a eunala.r pile also w1th t h e
baok aJrainst the ridge, but w1th the bead aga10st the gauge and
t he tail towards t he cuttt>r, and then moves back the gauge. He

lower end to the axlebox, and to its upper end another chain E
is connected, t his chain being secured to the horeE:'s breech
hand F. .A s the vehiole is going d own an inclinP, t he weight by
the force of gravity bears on the breech bard, thus pulling for
ward the chain E, and with it the lever D and rod C to which the
sh oe B is connected, and so operating the b~ake. ( .A cctpted
J uly 5, 1893).

---

UlUTED STATES PATBNT8 AND PATEn PRACTICB.

Descriptions with illustrations of inventions patented in the
United States of America from 1847 to the p resent time, and
repor ts of t ri&le of pafAln t law cases ill the United States, may be
consulted, gratis, at the oftlcee of ENen\BIJl{l(G, 36 and 36, Bedford

street, Strand.